History: Primary Sources by Era or Topic

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.

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.

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.

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. 
 

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

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.

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.

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.