Liddell Hart Center for Military Archives

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Liddell Hart Center for Military Archives (LHCMA) is an internationally recognized military archive established in 1964 at the Archives and Information Management Department of King's College London .

history

In 1960, Captain Sir Basil Liddell Hart , military historian and theorist, signed an agreement with King's College London (KCL) about the future location of its private military library. His estate was to serve as the basis for the Center for Military History founded in 1964 by the military historian Michael Howard , head of the Department of War Studies . After Liddell Hart's death in 1970, his widow campaigned for a complete archive consisting of military and non-military personal writings. In 1973 the KCL acquired the military library and the entire archive. The center was then renamed the Liddell Hart Center for Military Archives . In 1978, the stock of several thousand copies was finally moved from Harts' home in Buckinghamshire to the KCL. In 1991 the biographical material of his son Adrian Liddell Hart , a naval officer and foreign legionary, followed. Extensions were also made to include collections from the private libraries of other scholars such as Sir Michael Howard and Sir Lawrence Freedman . In 2005 the archive was recognized by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).

Duration

The archive registers an increase of over 30 collections a year. a. on the British Empire , the UN peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and the Middle East and the Northern Ireland conflict . It houses almost 800 private documents from people from the British security apparatus since 1900, including correspondence (Liddell Hart, for example, was in close contact with personalities such as Robert Graves , Lord Beaverbrook and TE Shaw ), diary entries, memos, videos, tapes, transcripts of interviews, photographs, Map materials, newspaper clippings, etc. This also includes documents from high-ranking military officials such as Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke and General Lord Ismay . The Department of War Studies, King's College London procured over 2,000 microfilms and 500 copies from other archives, dating back to World War II .

The main focuses of the collection are:

The Liddell Hart Center is linked to the central library catalog of King's College London.

Trustees

Current trustee (chairman) - as of 2015 - is Field Marshal Charles Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank . Other members include: Richard Trainor , Sir Peter Abbott , Brian Bond, Charles Wellesley, 9th Duke of Wellington , Sir Lawrence Freedman, David French, Theo Farrell , Nik Gowing, Norma Percy , Christopher Hill and Anne Poulson .

financing

The Center is supported in particular by King's College London, as well as financially u. a. Supported by the following public and private organizations: Esmee Fairburn Charitable Trust , Ford Foundation , Heritage Lottery Fund , Higher Education Funding Council for England , John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation , Joint Information Systems Committee , Leverhulme Foundation , London Center for Arts and Cultural Exchange and Museums Libraries and Archives Council .

Guest speaker

The Liddell Hart Center for Military Archives has held a series of lectures every year since 1988:

See also

literature

  • Stephen Brooks : Liddel Hart and His Papers . In: Brian Bond , Ian Roy (Eds.): War and Society. A Yearbook of Military History . Vol. 2, Croom Helm, London 1977, pp. 129-140.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Stephen Brooks : Liddel Hart and His Papers . In: Brian Bond , Ian Roy (Eds.): War and Society. A Yearbook of Military History . Vol. 2, Croom Helm, London 1977, pp. 129-140, here: p. 129.

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 '43 "  N , 0 ° 6' 58"  W.