Use the date range limit to narrow your search to a relevant time period.
1732-1950
National and regional British newspapers representing different political and cultural views.
1859-2022
Newspaper from Dublin, Ireland published daily except Sundays.
1785-2019
The Times (London) newspaper.
Search for articles published in popular magazines and journals from different times in history.
1681-1920
Popular British periodicals mostly from the 19th century.
1843-2015
Issues of The Economist, a news magazine with a global scope published in London.
1902-2013
London Times Literary Supplement publishes essays, letters, poems and articles.
Collections of several types of primary sources curated around a topic or theme.
1948-1980
British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominion and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices documenting the history of South Africa's apartheid regime.
Can also be searched as part of the Archives Direct combined search portal
1940-present
Primary sources from more than 35 countries related to LGBTQ activism and the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Also searchable in Gale Primary Sources.
Good for: Studying the history of Persia (Iran), Central Asia, and Afghanistan.
Contains: Correspondence, intelligence reports, diaries, minutes, maps, newspaper excerpts, and other primary sources from British Foreign Office Files.
Dates covered: 1834-1922.
Good for: Researching international affairs from a British perspective.
Contains: Commentary, speeches, and analysis from a nonprofit NGO.
Dates covered: 1920-2008.
Good for: Studying China's relations with the West in the 19th and early 20th century.
Contains: Academic and literary journals and missionary periodicals in English about China.
Dates covered: 1817-1949.
Good for: Researching China and its relations with the West during the late Qing and Republican periods.
Contains: Official correspondence, dispatches, reports, memoranda, and records of the Maritime Customs Service of China.
Dates covered: 1858-1949.
Good for: Exploring Chinese life and culture over the past 300 years.
Contains: Primary source documents like printed books, pamphlets, paintings, manuscripts, diaries, newspapers, and periodicals.
Dates covered: 1750-1980.
Good for: Researching the life and career of Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during and after World War II.
Contains: Primary sources including personal papers and official records.
Dates covered: 1690-1965 (mainly 1940-1955).
Good for: Understanding the perspective of Anglican missionary administrators and workers on cultural encounters around the world.
Contains: Newspapers, journals, and reports.
Dates covered: 1804-2009.
Good for: Evidence of changing views about gender, themed around conduct, domesticity, consumption and leisure, education, and the body.
Contains: Primary sources like correspondence, advice literature, periodicals, ephemera and government documents.
Dates covered: 1500s-1920.
Good for: Researching British trade and colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent.
Contains: British government records from the India Office.
Dates covered: 1599-1947.
Good for: Exploring colonial history, politics, culture and society from British and European perspectives.
Contains: Primary sources from archival collections.
Dates covered: 1492-1969.
Good for: Studying American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Contains: Primary sources like periodicals, pamphlets and books.
Dates covered: 1800-1920.
1963-1980
Correspondence, reports, maps and other primary source evidence of British Foreign Office involvement in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
What's included. Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
1900-2000. Campaign materials, periodicals, propaganda, government records, oral histories, and ephemera from fringe political movements on the right and the left.
1950-1975
Primary sources documenting music and popular culture in the US and Britain, 1950-1975, including manuscripts, video, photos, underground magazines and more.
Part of Americana combined search portal
Good for: Finding primary sources related to popular entertainment in America, Britain, and Europe.
Contains: Books, posters, scrapbooks, and optical toys.
Dates covered: 1779-1930.
1903-1962
Original documents from the National Archives on the suffrage question in Britain, the Empire and colonial territories.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
Digitized diaries and oral histories of lesser-known women of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales providing narratives that reveal personal perspectives on race, gender, class, disability, sexuality, aging, and more.
Digitized collections of books published during different time periods.
Good for: Searching books and periodicals, including full text access to those in the public domain and limited search for those still under copyright.
Contains: Scanned books and periodicals
1600-1926
Cross-search five Making of Modern Law databases: Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and International Law 1600-1926, Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources 1620-1926, Making of Modern Law: Treatises, 1800-1926, and Making of Modern Law: Trials 1600-1926.
Good for: Finding primary source materials on exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and more.
Contains: Historical books, pamphlets, serials and other documents about North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean.
Dates covered: 1500-1926
Official government publications, including laws, treaties, and records of legislative proceedings.
Great Britain
Good for: Primary sources documenting European colonization of the African continent from the British government’s perspective.
Contains: Government records from the British Colonial Office and Foreign Office.
Dates covered: 1834-1966.
Good for: Primary sources recording the British perspective on Central and South America and the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean.
Contains: Government and agency records.
Dates covered: 1833-1969.
Good for: Primary sources about British involvement in the Levant, the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan.
Contains: Government and agency records.
Dates covered: 1839-1969.
Good for: Primary sources generated by the British Foreign and Colonial Offices about events in the United States, Canada, and the English-speaking Caribbean.
Contains: Government and agency records.
Dates covered: 1824-1961.
1919-1980
British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
1947-1980
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
1919-1952
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on Japan: sections on Japanese Imperialism and the War in the Pacific, 1931-1945; Occupation of Japan, 1946-1952; and Japan and Great Power Status, 1919-1930.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
1971-1981
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the Middle East in the 1970s.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
1957-1963
Archival collection from the British National Archives focused on Harold Macmillan’s government and selected policy committees.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
1600-1926
Cross-search five Making of Modern Law databases: Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and International Law 1600-1926, Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources 1620-1926, Making of Modern Law: Treatises, 1800-1926, and Making of Modern Law: Trials 1600-1926.
1969-1974
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the Nixon presidency and impeachment (FCO 7 and FCO 82).
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
1945-1950
Records from the National Archives of the UK reveal challenges facing Displaced Persons, refugees and humanitarian aid organizations in the aftermath of World War II.
Digitized photos and art images.
Good for: Texts on the invention and early history of photography, collections of photographs, photograph albums, and early books illustrated with photos.
Contains: Books, photographs
Dates covered: 1800s-early 1900s
Art digital images and related data.
A repository of hundreds of thousands of digital images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, social sciences and related data; the tools to actively use those images; and a restricted usage environment that seeks to balance the rights of content providers with the needs and interests of content user.
These links allow you to search across multiple databases at the same time.
Good for: Searching across all collections of historical primary sources from Adam Matthew Publishers.
Contains: Primary sources held in libraries, museums and archives around the world.
Includes 19th Century UK Periodicals, Archives of Sexuality & Gender (LGBTQ History), British Library Newspapers, The Economist (1843-2014), Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers, Sabin Americana (1500-1926), China and the Modern World, London Times Digital Archive, and London Times Literary Supplement.