Primary contact
King's College London,
Strand,
London
WC2R 2LS
Key Information
Identifier
GB 0099 KCLMA
Authorized form of name
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
Parallel form(s) of name
Other form(s) of name
Type
- Military
Contact area
King's College London Archives
Primary contact
Type
Address
Street address
King's College London,
Strand,
London
Locality
Region
Country name
Postal code
WC2R 2LS
Telephone
+44 (0)20 7848 2015
Fax
Note
Description area
History
Founded 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.
Holdings
The 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may comprise many types of material: diaries, correspondence, working papers and files, texts of lectures, memoranda, unpublished memoirs, audio and video tapes of events and recollections, transcripts of interviews, photographs, maps and plans, and press cuttings.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 times
Tuesday - Thursday 10:00-17:00
Access conditions and requirements
Please contact us via archives@kcl.ac.uk to schedule an appointment and include the following information:
- proposed dates for your visit; and
- catalogue references for the material you would like to see.
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 services
We 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:
- Standard copy service - provided digitally in low resolution pdf format.
- Digital photography – readers are permitted to use handheld digital cameras upon completion of a copyright declaration form and is at the discretion of staff.
- Microform printouts - Print-outs of published microforms may be made by readers.
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 collections
If you wish to reproduce material from the archives in publication, you must obtain permission from us. A publication may be any of the following:
- a printed publication, such as a book, journal article or exhibition catalogue
- a doctoral thesis
- a film, video or television broadcast
- an electronic publication, such as a website or other digital resource
- public display in any form of electronic or hard copy (except for a single copy for use in an academic lecture, conference or seminar)
- use of an image in any form of merchandise.