The collection includes 147 transcripts of interviews, mostly uncut (questions are sometimes omitted), recorded in the making of a six part television documentary ' The Fifty Years War - Israel and the Arabs ' which examines the conflict and peace initiatives arising from Israel's relations with her Arab neighbours and the Palestinians, May 1948 -1998. It also contains video cassettes of the completed documentary, as well as files, video and audio cassettes, press cuttings, and published works gathered in the research and production of the documentary. Interviews were conducted with eyewitnesses from Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, USSR, USA and the former British Mandated Territory of Palestine, recount their memories and describe their involvement in events including the partition of Palestine (1947), Israel's declaration of independence (1948), the Suez crisis (1956), the Six Day War (1967), the Yom Kippur War (1973), the Camp David talks between Israel and Egypt (1978), the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon (1976, 1982), and the Oslo Agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) (1993-1995). Interviewees include political, military, diplomatic, academic and civilian persons, notably Miriam Eshkol, widow of Levi Eshkol, Israeli Prime Minister 1963-1969; Maj Gen Ehud Barak, Israeli Defence Force (IDF), Israeli Chief of General Staff 1991-1995, Minister for the Interior 1995, and Minister for Foreign Affairs 1995-1996; Yair Hirschfeld, Israeli academic at Haifa University; Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister 1977, 1984-1986, 1995-1996, Foreign Minister 1986-1988, 1992-1995, and Minister of Defence 1974-1977; Maj Gen. Ariel Sharon (IDF), Israeli Minister of Defense 1981-1983, Industry and Trade1984-1990, and Construction 1990-1992; Gideon Rafael, Israeli diplomat and representative to the UN, and Foreign Ministry official 1958-1978; Maj Gen Ezer Weizman (IDF), Chief of Operations of the General Staff 1967, Deputy Chief of Staff 1967, and Minister of Defence 1977-1980; George Habash, founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP); Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala), economic assistant to Yasir Arafat and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Minister of Finance; Hanan Ashwari, Palestinian academic and campaigner for Palestinian rights; Saeb Erekat, Palestinian negotiator; Faisal Husseini, Jerusalem PLO representative; Walid Moualem, Syrian Ambassador to the US 1990- ; Farouk Al-Shar'a, Syrian Foreign Minister 1984-; Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian President 1954-1970; Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs 1978; Shams el-din Badran, Egyptian War Minister 1967; General Muhammed Fawzi, Egyptian Chief of Staff 1967 and Defence Minister 1968-1971; Mohammad Jafaar al Numeiri, President of The Sudan 1969-1971, 1971-1985; Jihan Sadat, widow of Anwar al Sadat, President of Egypt 1970-1981; Hussein, King of Jordan 1952-1999; Zeid Al Rifai, Jordan Prime Minister 1973-1976; Josef Abu Khalil, Maronite Phalange party, and adviser to Bashir Gemayel; Shafiq Al Wazzan, Lebanon Prime Minister and Minister for the Interior 1980-1984; Terje Rød Larsen, Norwegian Socialist; Intissar al-Wazir (Umm Jihad), widow of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), PLO official; James Addison Baker, US Secretary of State 1989-1992; James Earl (Jimmy) Carter, US President 1977-1981; Warren Christopher, US Secretary of State 1993-1997; Dennis Ross, Director of Policy Planning Staff, US Department of State 1989-1992, Special Middle East Coordinator, US State Department 1994-; and Anatoly Dobrynin, Soviet Ambassador to the US 1962-1986.

Papers of Sir Geoffrey Warren Furlonge relating to the Middle East, [1932-1983] including typescript memorandum by Furlonge entitled 'Memorandum on slavery in Saudi Arabia' [1932]; typescript account by Furlonge entitled 'The mission to Taif', Hejaz, Arabia, with eleven photographs, Jul 1934. Four letters home from Furlonge to his mother relating to Syria and the Lebanon, 1941-1944. Typescript articles by Furlonge, 1959-1977, including 'Mount Kenya', 1959; 'Anglo-Jordanian relations today', 1966; 'Palestinian diaspora', 1969; 'Algeria ten years after', 1972; 'Mauritania', 1974; 'Traditional Islamic society' [1974]; 'Notes on visit to the West Bank and Jordan', 1975; 'The future of the Spanish Sahara', 1975; 'Algeria: the next step forward' [1977]; 'The Arabia that was', 1977. Papers relating to an English Speaking Union lecture tour of North America by Furlonge, Sep-Nov 1964, including bound typescript volume listing speaking engagements, Sep-Nov 1964; typescript account entitled 'North American tour, 1964', written by Furlong, Dec 1964. Printed text of lecture by Furlonge entitled 'Jordan today', given to the Royal Central Asian Society, 8 Jun 1966, and published in the Royal Central Asian Journal , Oct 1966. Typescript draft chapters from an unpublished book on the Middle East, including chapters entitled 'Morocco', 'Spanish Sahara', 'The Nile valley', 'An antique land [Libya]', 'The Maghrib' and 'Algeria' [1965]. Four typescript draft chapters and typescript notes on the French mandated territories of Syria and the Lebanon, for an unpublished book entitled 'The liberation of the Levant', 1971. Correspondence 1971-1974, including with Sir Alec Seath Kirkbride, 1971-1972; the British Embassy, Rabat, Saudi Arabia, 1974; The Times , 1974. Typescript draft obituaries by Furlonge relating to individuals connected to the Middle East [1976-1983], including Maj Gen Seyyid Mudar Badran, Prime Minister of Jordan, 1976-1979; Sir Alec Seath Kirkbride, Diplomat, 1922-1954; Muhammad Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, 1970-1981; Khalid ibn Abd al-Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia, 1975-1982; Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, Islamic leader of Iran, 1979-1989; Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, 1941-1979, with related correspondence with the Obituary Department, The Times , 1981.

Public Statements by the Secretaries of Defense, 1947-1981 are microfilmed copies of official statements, press releases, speeches, announcements and memoranda released by successive US Secretaries of Defense, 1947-1981. Compiled by the US Department of Defense at the Pentagon, Washington, DC, the material reflects US government national security concerns during the height of the Cold War. Arranged chronologically, the series includes statement before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan), 1948; statement before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives on aid to Greece and Turkey, 1948; memoranda relating to Civil Defense Planning, 1948; statement on biological warfare potentialities, 1949; statements relating to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 1949-1981; remarks at the unveiling of the memorial to British FM Sir John (Greer) Dill, 1950; testimony relating to the military situation in the Far East and the Balkans; statements relating to the Mutual Security Pact, 1952 and the Mutual Security Program, 1953; statement regarding the deployment of nuclear weapons for air defence, 1957; statement before the Senate Committee on Armed Services relating to satellite and missile programs, 1958; testimony regarding the Foreign Assistance Act, 1962; press conferences relating to the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962; joint statements with Gen Maxwell Davenport Taylor, Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff, relating to the situation in the Republic of Vietnam, 1963; press conference regarding Gulf of Tonkin 'incident', 1964; statement regarding the appointment of Gen William Childs Westmoreland as Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, 1964; press releases relating to the increased commitment of US ground troops to Vietnam, 1966; testimony regarding US operations in Cambodia, 1970; press conferences relating to US-Soviet Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) tests, 1970; statements regarding US arms sales to Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, 1974; statements regarding the fall of Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, to the North Vietnamese Army, Apr 1975; testimony relating to nuclear technology, including the Minuteman II nuclear missile, 1976; statements regarding Stealth technology and its application, 1980.