Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
Contact areaKing's College London Archives Primary contact
Address Street addressKing's College London, Strand, London
Telephone+44 (0)20 7848 2015
Description area HistoryFounded in 1964, the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives is a leading repository for research into modern defence policy in Britain - its strategy, planning and conduct. Their significance has been recognised through the Arts Council England’s Designated Outstanding collection scheme.
HoldingsThe Centre holds the private papers of over 800 senior defence personnel who held office from 1900 onwards. Individual collections range in size from a single file to the hundreds of items contained within the archives of Capt. Sir Basil Liddell Hart. Collections may comprise many types of material: diaries, correspondence, working papers and files, texts of lectures, memoranda, unpublished memoirs, audio and video tapes of events and recollections, transcripts of interviews, photographs, maps and plans, and press cuttings.
The scope of the holdings is vast, and ranges from high-level defence policy and strategic planning (for example, in the papers of FM Viscount Alanbrooke and General Lord Ismay) down to the command of individual units in the field. Holdings cover all the armed services, (including the special services) and all wars, campaigns and peacekeeping initiatives in which British forces were engaged or acted as observers or specialist advisers, from the Second Boer War (1899-1902) onwards. The Centre's collections are also of value for a range of subjects not necessarily associated with military history including the history of science and journalism, and the study of racial interaction and colonial administration. An extremely rich resource for biographers is Liddell Hart's extensive correspondence with public figures of his day such as Robert Graves, Lord Beaverbrook and TE Shaw.
More recent acquisitions include the collections of TV documentary makers
Our reference library, the core of which is the former private library of Capt. Sir Basil Liddell Hart, forms an integral part of the resources of the Centre, covering a range of military history topics from the late nineteenth century onwards.
Access area Opening timesTuesday - Thursday 10:00-17:00
Access conditions and requirementsPlease contact us via archives@kcl.ac.uk to schedule an appointment and include the following information:
Please also note that where material is held offsite, we will need a minimum of seven days' notice prior to your visit.
Services area Research servicesWe offer a remote enquiry service to all our users including requests for the use of quotations or digital images in published works, online or for other commercial and non-commercial purposes. We will also provide general information about our collections and advice on how to search our catalogue - and invite you to explore our online exhibitions, Research Guides and other resources via the tabs and links on our website: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/collections/archives
Reproduction services Readers are welcome to order copies of material for the purpose of private study either in person or remotely.We provide the following services:
Please note that copies of copyright material are made solely for the purpose of private study. Readers can make no further use of copied material without first seeking the permission of the copyright holder.
Find out more about ordering copies from the Archives
Publishing from the collectionsIf you wish to reproduce material from the archives in publication, you must obtain permission from us. A publication may be any of the following:
Find out more about reproducing material from the Archives
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