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Hosting over six million records covering over 500 years of history, BOA's extensive digital archive offers unique insights into global events, trends, and themes.

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Illustration shows a restaurant scene with men and women dancing in the background. Shows upper class people in fashionable 1920s fashion.
Culture and Society
1907 photgraph showing women from the Women's Freedom League holding posters that state Women Demand The Vote and Votes For Women.
Politics and Social Movements
Black and white photograph of a statue of a freed slave in Barbados
Slavery and Abolition
Prince of Wales' welcome reception in India in 1906. Illustration shows elephant and people marching next to it.
Colonialism and Empire
Two pamphlet covers on Britain's Economy. The left side has The National Budget 1950/51 pamphlet cover. The right side has The Pound and Our Future pamphlet cover with a large illustration of the £ sign.
Economics
An engraving of a medieval missionary discovering the point where the Earth and sky meet. The Sun, Moon and Stars are shown.
Philosophy and Religion
World Map Showing UN Nations
International Relations
Illustration published in The Illustrated War News on 24 March 1915 depicting the trenches during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle
War, Security, and Intelligence
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Licensed to access Illustrated London News, 1842–2003

1842   2003
Illustrated London News logo
Coloured illustration of a British town being bombed. On the left a black and white soldier points to the sky.

Licensed to access Britain Under Threat: Civil Defence in the Era of Total War, 1914–1989

1914   1989
The National Archives (UK) logo
Illustration of The View of Cape Town, Table Bay

Licensed to access British Colonial Rule in the Cape of Good Hope and Basutoland, 1854–1910

1854   1910
British Foreign & Commonwealth Office logo
Painting by artist Thomas Luny in 1788 of East India Company's Ships

Licensed to access British Mercantile Trade Statistics, 1662–1809

1662   1808
The National Archives (UK) logo
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Latest Posts

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A document titled Women-Ridden England in large black serif text. There is a line drawn illustration of a group of women dressed in the same hat and outfit.

Document of the Week: “Woman-Ridden England”, 1928

Chloe Haney
Published 21st April, 2025 3 min read
Cursive writing that says Happy Easter set against a striped background.

Easter 2025

British Online Archives
Published 20th April, 2025 1 min read
A yellow background with clouds. Three crosses emerge from the clouds. It says Good Friday in dark text.

Good Friday 2025

British Online Archives
Published 18th April, 2025 1 min read
An orange background with a man standing with a drum, and two women dancing.

Vaisakhi 2025

British Online Archives
Published 14th April, 2025 1 min read

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About us

British Online Archives (BOA) is one of the UK’s leading academic publishers and online repositories. 

Hosting over six million records, carefully sourced from private and public archives, such as The National Archives (UK) and British Library, BOA’s specially curated primary source collections cover over 500 years of world history. They boast extensive documentation from across the globe, providing invaluable source material for students and researchers working within a wide range of scholarly disciplines, including history, politics, sociology, and international relations. Our unique digital holdings offer insights into global historical events and trends, typically through a British lens. They serve to broaden our understanding of history, and help us to make sense of contemporary social, cultural, economic, and political landscapes.

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