Primary sources

Historical government documents

These resources are historical primary sources of publications from UK and US governments. For current publications see the Government documents and official publications resource guide.

Cecil Papers
The Hatfield House Archives is a collection of almost 30,000 documents gathered by William Cecil (1520–1598), Lord Burghley and his son Robert Cecil (1563–1612), first Earl of Salisbury. The elder Cecil was one of Elizabeth I’s closest advisers. The collection includes many 16th and 17th century state papers, grants from the Crown, legal documents, treaties, correspondences and political memoranda.

A subscription resource from ProQuest.

Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan
Explore the volatile political and diplomatic history of Central Asia, from the decline of the Silk Road to the “Great Game” and the era of Soviet influence.

This resource provides digital access to official British government records relating to the region, from the decline of the Silk Road, through the diplomatic confrontation between the British and Russian Empires known as the “Great Game”, to the influence of the emergent Soviet Union in the 20th century.

An AM Digital resource.

China and the Modern World

Sourced from archives across the world, in particular the British Library, the Foreign Office via the UK National Archives and the Second Historical Archives of China, these collections offer monographs, manuscripts, periodicals, correspondence and letters, historical photos and ephemera covering a 180-year period of Chinese history, from the later period of the Qing dynasty to the radical political and societal changes from which has emerged the China of today.

China and the Modern World, Part VII: Hong Kong, Britain, and China Part II: 1965-1993
Digitised primarily from the records of British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO 40), this collection continues where Hong Kong, Britain and China, 1841–1951 (Part I) left off, and documents the process of Hong Kong manoeuvring, surviving, thriving and transforming into a modern international metropolis and financial centre in the wider context of the Cold War.

Consisting of all declassified volumes — that are directly related to Hong Kong and those that affect all British colonies or territories — from the National Archives classes FCO 40 and 21, China and the Modern World: Hong Kong, Britain and China Part II, 1965–1993 provides scholars with essential reference material for researching Hong Kong and its interactions with mainland China, UK, US, Taiwan and other parts of Asia.

A Gale resource.

Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990: Reduction of Acid Rain, Urban Air Pollution, and Environmental Policy
The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments were a landmark effort to reduce air pollution through a variety of instruments including the use of a market-based system of trade-able pollution "permits" under its Title IV and Title V. This Archives Unbound collection consists of essential documents on the promulgation and implementation of the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990 and other environmental issues including endangered species and protection of American wetlands.

A Gale resource.

Colonial Law in Africa, 1808–1919
Originally known as the “Government Gazettes” each item contains the colonial laws for the year in which they were published. Coverage includes the Napoleonic Wars, the Boer War and the First World War.

A subscription resource from British Online Archives.

Colonial State Papers, 1574–1757
This resource offers over 7,000 manuscript papers and 40,000 bibliographic records concerning English activities in the American, Canadian and West Indian colonies between the 16th and 18th centuries.

A subscription resource from ProQuest.

Commercial and Trade Relations Between Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union and the U.S., 1910-1963
This collection of U.S. State Department Central Classified Files relates to commercial and trade relations beginning in the Tsarist Russia period and extending through Khrushchev period in Soviet history. It contains a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats including materials on treaties, general conditions affecting trade, imports and exports, laws and regulations, customs administration, tariffs and ports of entry activities.

A Gale Archives Unbound resource.

Confidential Print Middle East 1839–1969
Of relevance to social, economic and political research, Confidential Print was a Government series aimed at preserving the most important papers generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices.

An Adam Matthew Digital subscription resource sourced from the UK National Archives.

Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, Asia, 1960-1969
Major topics covered include tensions between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, the U.S.’s Two Chinas policy; the Cultural Revolution in China; US military assistance to Vietnam; food supply to Vietnam during the war; student protests in Japan.

Part of the History Vault platform from ProQuest.

Conflict in Indochina: Module 1
The resource, part of the AM Archives Direct suite drawn from The National Archives, UK, provides comprehensive coverage of the key events during the War in Vietnam and the wider impact on Laos and Cambodia.

The material covers the role of regional actors within Indochina, including China, the US and the Soviet Union, as they compete for influence within the context of the Cold War.

This module covers the growing conflict between North and South Vietnam, and the resulting political instability across the region. There is significant coverage of Laos and the Geneva Convention in 1962, which produced an agreement on the neutrality of Laos.

Conflict in Indochina: Module 2 [AM Digital]
The resource, part of the AM Archives Direct suite drawn from The National Archives, UK, provides comprehensive coverage of the key events during the War in Vietnam, and the wider impact on Laos and Cambodia.

The material covers the role of regional actors within Indochina, including China, the US and the Soviet Union, as they compete for influence within the context of the Cold War.

This module features material on US activity and escalation in the region as well as the Cambodian Civil War and eventual control by the Khmer Rouge. The materials will extend users understanding of the situation in Cambodia, including files examine the relations between the UK, Vietnam and Cambodia and material from the United Nations investigations into the Cambodian genocide.

Declassified Documents Online, Twentieth-Century British Intelligence
Spanning 1905–2002, this collection of reports and declassified security files documents the activities of diplomats, security service agents (MI5), the armed forces and politicians in intelligence gathering across the British Empire.

A Gale resource offered in partnership with The National Archives.

Development of Environmental Health Policy: Pope A. Lawrence Papers 1924-1983
Correspondence, field studies, reports, scientific data, photographs and maps all document the varied research and policy-making career of Pope A. Lawrence, an environmental health scientist with the Public Health Service (PHS) and the Environmental Health Agency (EPA). His papers contain a wealth of primary source research materials and scientific data related to: environmental and industrial hygiene, radon activity, use of beryllium as a rocket propellant, uranium mining, and toxicological, biological and chemical weapon systems, primarily from the 1950s through the 1970s, especially as related to America's atomic age federal policy.

A Gale resource.

Digital national security archive
This sizeable archive presents over fifty collections of extra-governmental reporting on, amongst many other topics: US diplomatic relations with other nations as key players in 20th century world events; the US side of the nuclear arms race; the Cold War; intelligence reporting by the CIA to the US President; the Cuban missile crisis; US policy towards Central and South America. Recent additions to the Library’s DNSA portfolio include:

Module 53: U.S. nuclear nonproliferation 2, part 1: From atoms for peace to the NPT, 1954-1968
Module 54: U.S. policy toward Iran: From the revolution to the nuclear accord, 1978-2015
Module 55: The President’s daily brief: Nixon, Ford and the CIA, 1969-1977
Modules 56 and 57: Donald Rumsfeld’s Snowflakes, Parts 1 and 2: The Pentagon and US foreign policy, 2001-2006
Module 58: CIA covert operations IV, the Eisenhower years 1953-1961
Module 59: U.S. Climate Change Diplomacy: From the Montreal Protocol to the Paris Agreement, 1981-2015
Module 60: The Afghanistan War and the United States, 1998-2017
Module 61: Targeting Iraq, Part II: War and Occupation, 2004-2011
Module 62: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Carter Years, 1977-1981: Highest-Level Memos to the President
Module 63: U.S.-Russia Relations: From the Fall of the Soviet Union to the Rise of Putin, 1991-2000.

DNSA is a subscription resource from ProQuest.

Documents on British Policy Overseas, 1898–1990
Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents representing British diplomatic history throughout the 20th century. Includes the following sub-collections:

British Documents on the Origins of War (1898–1914): Materials related to the Anglo-German tensions leading to World War I.
Documents on British Foreign Policy (1918–1939): Addresses post-war settlement, re-armament, and growing tensions in Europe, Africa, and the Far East.
Documents on British Policy Overseas (1946–present): Covers topics such as atomic energy, the Korean Conflict, and the Cold War.

Foreign Office Files for India Pakistan and Afghanistan 1947–1980
This resource has material covering the post-independence political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Content ranges from independence and partition, to the India-Pakistan wars. Includes content on Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Kashmir and other frontier regions.

A subscription resource from Adam Matthew Digital.

Foreign Office files for the Middle East 1971–1981
Drawn from diplomatic correspondence, minutes, reports, political summaries and personality profiles, this resource supports examination of Middle East policies, economies, political relationships, conflicts and significant events in the 1970s and the political figures of that time. Contains complete runs of Foreign Office files for key events.

A subscription resource from Adam Matthew Digital.

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (HCPP) 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries
This resource comprises digitised transcripts of UK Parliamentary debates.

A ProQuest subscription resource.

House of Lords Parliamentary Papers, 1800–1910
Available at the same site as House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, where the archives for each house of Parliament can be searched simultaneously or individually using filters in the advanced search feature.

A ProQuest subscription resource.

International Climatic Changes and Global Warming
For over the past 200 years, the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, and deforestation, have caused the concentrations of heat-trapping "greenhouse gases" to increase significantly in our atmosphere. This collection documents the U.S. response to the threat posed by climatic change and global warming. The research behind the studies, reports and analyses represents an exhaustive review of the facts, causes and economic and political implications of a phenomenon that threatens every region of the world.

A Gale Archives Unbound resource.

Kenya under colonial rule, in Government reports, 1907-1964
A collection of papers from the colonial government in Kenya documenting the British to colonial rule in the country. British colonisation exploited Kenya’s natural resources, with native farmers forced onto marginal, infertile land and making them work on European-owned farms and plantations. This resource also covers the period the East Africa Colony, the Mau Mau uprising, and Kenyan independence in 1963.

A British Online Archives resource.

Macmillan Cabinet Papers 1957–1963
Sourced from the National Archives, Macmillan Cabinet Papers provides complete coverage of the Cabinet conclusions (minutes) and memoranda of Harold Macmillan’s government. The documents cover Britain's relationship with the EEC, Anglo-American ties, the Cold War, decolonisation and issues of public and political morality.

A subscription resource from Adam Matthew Digital.

Military intelligence files : land, sea and air, 1938–1974
Intelligence reports from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force covering the Second World War and the Cold War offering insights into international relations and military history during this time.

A British Online Archives resource.

The Russian Civil War and American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia, 1918-20
This collection reproduces important letters, reports, memorandums, cablegrams, maps, charts and other kinds of records relating to the activities of the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia, 1918-20.

A Gale Archives Unbound resource.

Overton
Overton is the world’s largest searchable index of policy documents, guidelines, think tank publications and working papers.
A collection of millions of policy documents with links to the research, people and other policy documents that they quote or reference.

Public Petitions to Parliament, 1833–1918
Petitioning Parliament was one method by which pressure aimed at creating political change and legislative review was brought about by ordinary members of the public. This resource covers many social and political topics such as petitioning for tax reforms to the extension of the voting franchise and supports the “bottom-up” approach to the study of history.

A subscription resource from ProQuest.

Secret files from World Wars to Cold War
Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War provides access to British government secret intelligence and foreign policy files from 1873 to 1953. Sourced from The National Archives, these documents – from signals intelligence reports to government-directed policy and strategy – range from the period of Appeasement through to the early Cold War. The content is international in breadth and scope, spanning four key 20th century conflicts, with a spotlight on the Second World War.

A Taylor & Francis subscription resource sourced from the National Archives.

State Papers Online

This resource is a collection of digitised United Kingdom state papers from the 16th and 17th centuries. Presented here are Domestic, Foreign, Borders, Scotland, and Ireland State Papers with the Registers of the Privy Council and other State Papers now housed in the Cotton, Harley and Lansdowne collections in the British Library. A subscription resource from Gale consisting of:

US Declassified Documents Online
This resource offers previously classified federal records from the 20th and 21st centuries bringing together the most sensitive documents from all the presidential libraries and several US executive agencies.

A subscription resource from Gale.

Uganda under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1903–1961
This resource is a collection of annual departmental reports showing how each area of the colonial government of Uganda developed over the first 60 years of the 20th century.

A subscription resource from British Online Archives.

World War I and Revolution in Russia, 1914-1918
This collection documents the Russian entrance into World War I and culminates in reporting on the Revolution in Russia in 1917 and 1918. The documents consist primarily of correspondence between the British Foreign Office, various British missions and consulates in the Russian Empire and the Tsarist government, and later the Provisional Government. This collection comprises the complete contents of the former Scholarly Resources microfilm collection entitled British Foreign Office: Russia Correspondence, 1914-1918.

A Gale Archives Unbound resource.