History: Primary Sources by Era or Topic

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.

1948-1980
British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominion and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices documenting the history of South Africa's apartheid regime.

1940-present
Primary sources from more than 35 countries related to LGBTQ activism and the HIV/AIDS crisis.

1834-1922
Correspondence, intelligence reports, agents’ diaries, minutes, maps, newspaper excerpts and other materials from the British Foreign Office Files about the history of Persia (Iran), Central Asia and Afghanistan from the decline of the Silk Road in the first half of the nineteenth century to the establishment of Soviet rule over parts of the region in the early 1920s.

1817-1949
Academic and literary journals, journals of sinology, and missionary periodicals in English about China.

1858-1949
Primary source collection for the study of China and its relations with the West in the late Qing and Republican periods.

1800-1920
Primary source material for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

1963-1980
Correspondence, reports, maps and other primary source evidence of British Foreign Office involvement in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.

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.

• 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.

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. 
 

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

1834-1966
Primary source documents about African colonies generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices of the British government between 1834 and 1966.

1833-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning Central and South America and the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

1839-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan.

1824-1961
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning the United States, Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean, with some coverage of Central and South America.

1919-1980
British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980.

1947-1980
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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.

1971-1981
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the Middle East in the 1970s.

1957-1963
Archival collection from the British National Archives focused on Harold Macmillan’s government and selected policy committees.

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).

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.

• 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.