A Window on History
www.churchillarchive.com
What is the Churchill Archive?
A unique resource bringing 800,000 documents gathered
by Churchill in his life online for the first time
• 800,000 pages of primary source documents
from 1874 to 1965
• Content – from 2,700 boxes held by
the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge,
UK, previously available on microfilm by
appointment only
What is the Churchill Archive?
• Historical files digitised for the first time: telegrams, booklets, speech
notes, government documents, photos, book manuscripts, letters and
diaries
• Sources document Churchill’s engagement in all aspects of national and
international affairs over six decades of public life as soldier, journalist,
wartime leader and historian
• Letters
What can you do in the Churchill Archive?
The Churchill Archive - an exceptional resource for researchers,
students and the general public.
It includes:
• Specially-commissioned articles, based on courses, to guide students
and researchers through the content
• Special features, such as Action this Day, which bring history alive
• Links to additional content such as contemporary newspaper articles,
newsreel and film clips to give different perspectives on events,
speeches and diplomatic relationships
• Reading lists and bibliographies to encourage further research
• Personalisation features: annotating, citing, extracting and sharing
options (from August 2012)
Homepage
The homepage is your portal to the rest of
the Archive’s features and contents
Slideshow highlights
featured content
Read original documents from
this day in history
Or browse the content by topic, place,
people or period
Access the catalogue
browser directly
Explore by place, periods or topic
The Archive covers much more than
just one man. Its unique taxonomy
helps you to explore 20th-Century
history by place, periods or topic
From drop-down menus,
click-through to those of
interest
Explore by people
You can also search for documents
about any individual who has been
mentioned more than 10 times
Links are provided to further
information about the individual in
the Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography and/or Who Was Who
(you’ll need a subscription to these
products)
Search results
Select documents to view side
by side in the image browser
Narrow your results to a
specific date range or refine
them using the Archive’s
unique taxonomy
Large number of
results? Use advanced
search to accurately
pinpoint what you’re
looking for
Advanced search
Use or exclude specific
search phrases to narrow
results
Or search within areas of the
catalogue, by categories such
as ‘speeches’ or ‘Official: War
Cabinet’
Browse the catalogue
In ‘Explore’ or from the homepage,
you’ll find the option to browse the
complete catalogue, as categorised
by the Churchill Archives Centre
Click on the eye symbol to bring
up details of the documents
within each category
Click the arrow to load the list of
documents in a category
Image browser
The image browser allows you
to look at digitised versions of
the documents alongside
information about them
On the information tab, you can view
details about the document, including the
catalogue description – in itself illuminating
and a useful reference point
‘Current selection’ lists the document
you are currently looking at
Image browser
You can also zoom to explore
the documents in high
definition
Using the zoom, you
can scroll around the
document using this
thumbnail
Use the film-reel to scroll
through the pages
Using the fullscreen option
you can view the
document in
higher definition
Teaching resources – HE modules
For lecturers, specially commissioned
higher education modules can be found
in ‘Teaching Resources’
Each module
contains an essay
on a key topic by a
leading academic
Links to further
reading, websites and
supporting materials
e.g. suggested essay
questions, summary
slides for seminars
Links to Churchill
Archive documents of
relevance
Teaching resources – lesson plans
For teachers, specially-commissioned
lesson plans can also be found in
Teaching Resources
You can view the plans on the
website, or download a PDF
Plans include suggestions for how to use
them in class and questions and answers
for students to test their learning
Links to relevant archive documents
(here, drafts of the speech)
What’s been said about the Churchill Archive?
• ‘This is the holy grail of twentieth-century archives.’
Martin Farr, Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University, UK
• ‘The Churchill Archive will make students much more likely to use
primary sources, and will give them a wider range of documents to draw
on. In addition, I am more likely now to shape components of my course
around the documents if I know they are available to students in such a
convenient form.’
Christopher M. Bell, Associate Professor, Dalhousie University, Canada
• ‘An Aladdin’s Cave of historical riches ... It is a project that will bring the
history of the first sixty years of the Twentieth Century, and the
remarkable story of Britain’s greatest Prime Minister, into the classroom
and the home.’
Sir Martin Gilbert, Churchill Biographer and Special Advisor to the Churchill Archive
A Window on History
If you are interested in trialling or purchasing an institutional subscription
to the Churchill Archive, please contact: churchillarchive@pcgplus.com