Primary Sources: United Kingdom (U.K.): England/Great Britain

"When the Olympic Games came to London in 1948, the city was still suffering from the ravages of World War II. Rationing remained in force and many had been left homeless, yet the bomb-cratered city rose to the challenge of hosting the world's greatest sporting occasion. This collection of programmes and photographs looks back at the 'Austerity Olympics', which were not only the first post-war Games, but also the first in which British television played a role."

"Use this website to view digitised copies of manuscripts and archives in the British Library’s collections, with descriptions of their contents."

Access 30,000 items from the extensive collections of the British Library including maps, photos, documents, books and more.

"British Library Sounds presents 50,000 recordings and their associated documentation from the Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings which come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds."

"The oral history collections at the British Library cover a wide range of subject areas. The interviews made available here are only a small selection from the many thousands held in the British Library. - See more at: http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history#sthash.4GCGSBrb.dpuf"

" Find Members, their contributions, debates, petitions and divisions from published Hansard reports dating back over 200 years. Daily debates from Hansard are published on this website the next working day."

"Although Hidden Lives Revealed has information on children's homes up to the 1980s, the site focuses on the period 1881-1918, and includes unique archive material about poor and disadvantaged children cared for by The Waifs and Strays' Society. The Society cared for children across England and Wales - in both the densest urban conurbations and some of the smallest rural villages."

"... makes available, in a fully digitised and searchable form, a wide range of primary sources about eighteenth-century London, with a particular focus on plebeian Londoners. This resource includes over 240,000 manuscript and printed pages from eight London archives and is supplemented by fifteen datasets created by other projects. "

"William Joyce, aka Lord Haw-Haw, was a notorious broadcaster of Nazi propaganda to the UK during World War II. His announcement 'Germany calling, Germany calling' was a familiar sound across the airwaves, introducing threats and misinformation that he broadcast from his Hamburg base.

In 1945, Joyce was captured and returned to Britain, where he was later hanged for treason. This collection features some of his broadcasts and interviews with those who knew him. Wartime documents reveal the fear caused by Lord Haw-Haw and how the BBC worked to counteract his propaganda. "
Provided by the BBC

"The programmes, news items and documents illustrate her image transformation from suburban housewife to strong leader on the global stage. The collection focuses on the significance of Thatcher becoming one of the most powerful women in the world during the 1970s. "
Site provided by the BBC

This site provides "free access to thousands of historical documents relating to the Thatcher period. "

"This collection follows Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's journey from Princess to Queen, from her first broadcast at the age of 14 to the announcement of her accession at 24. "
Provided by the BBC

"A fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court. "

offers a personal perspective on the British navy at the height of its power, chronicling the remarkable tale of a young naval officer who fought around the world in the service of Admiral Lord Nelson. Edited by acclaimed maritime writer C. Northcote Parkinson, the book offers a brutal and complex portrait of life at sea during one of the pivotal periods in British naval history. The letters, sketches, and watercolors collected here provide an intimate glimpse into the personal trials and challenges that confronted many British officers at sea.
Description from Books in Print
CNU ONLY

Examine every page of rare historic works; compare different editions side-by-side; choose standard or magnified view; read supporting material by our curators and other experts.
Shakespeare in Quarto
Caxton's Chaucer
Gutenberg Bible
Magna Carta
Renaissance Festival Books
Sample: Malory's Arthurian manuscript

"The state funeral of Winston Churchill is at the heart of this collection, which also includes personal memories of a man whose loss was deeply felt when he died, aged 90, on 24 January 1965. Each programme is a tribute to the man who claimed to have 'nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat'."