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Making Humanities Accessible

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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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 that shows a nuclear explosion, with writing overlayed that reads Civil Defence, is it any use in the nuclear age?

Britain Under Threat: Civil Defence in the Cold War

British Online Archives
Published 25th March, 2025 1 min read
A notice on sleeping sickness from the Nyasaland Government Gazette, 1911.

Document of the Week: Sleeping Sickness in North-Eastern Rhodesia, 1911

Nishah Malik
Published 24th March, 2025 3 min read
An advertisement for BOA's attendance at the ER&L 20th Annual Library Conference held at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center.

British Online Archives Exhibiting at ER&L 2025!

British Online Archives
Published 21st March, 2025 1 min read
A photo of Dr Charlie Hall leafing through several documents from a file at the National Archives. The documents relate to the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster.

Britain Under Threat: The Bethnal Green Tube Disaster

Dr Charlie Hall
Published 20th March, 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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