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Michigan State University

Appeasement: Great Britain in the 1930s: Government Information

A guide to researching Great Britain in the 1930s. The Depression. Appeasement of Hitler. General Strike

Government Information

Finding British Parliamentary Papers in the M.S.U. Libraries, 2007 edition

The purpose of this guide is to describe British Parliamentary documents available in the M.S.U. Libraries in paper, micro, and electronic formats, and to provide directions for their location and use. It is primarily useful for research using 18th through 21st century documents. If you need more assistance than offered here either use the previous edition of this guide, which is longer, or make an appointment with Agnes Widder for hands on help.

In addition, the sources below are helpful:

Officials of Royal Commissions of Inquiry, 1870-1939

Main JN 407 .H37 1995
Contains lists of royal commissions of the period covered, the official who served on the commissions, and the purpose of the work. Indexed by personal name and commission. From here proceed to the Sessional Papers as described in the research guide Finding British Parliamentary Papers... Another similar work is British Government Publications, an Index to Chairmen of Committees and Commissions of Inquiry, 1800-1978, Main Z 2009 f.R535 1982.

Never Complain, Never Explain, Records of the Foreign Office and State Paper Office 1500-c1960

Main DA 45 .A8 1994
A general introduction to the most important classes of public records for the study of foreign relations in the early modern and modern periods. Does not cover sources outside the Foreign and State Paper Offices. See chapters 10, 12.2, 14, 18.4-18.4.2

A Guide To the Papers of British Cabinet Ministers 1900-1964

Main  JN 401 .H39 1996

Private Collections: Ministers and Officials: Various. FO 800 Index

Oversize, basement central, CD 1051 .A58 1992
This is a finding aid for Foreign Office 800, a class which contains records of various persons in the British government in the early part of the 20th century.

Kew Lists, the Microfiche edition and supplement

2nd floor West Microforms CD 1043 .K48 and supplement. Kew Lists are the finding aids used to identify the call numbers for materials in the British National Archives (formerly called the Public Record Office), which is the national repository for Britain's government materials. Use the Public Record Office's Current Guide (Microforms Guides CD 1043 .A562 1996) or the set of the Current Guide found in the Kew Lists themselves, first. Start with Part 3: Index to look up your government topic. This index guides you to Part 2: Class Descriptions or Part 1: Administrative Histories. Having identified class description numbers you can then look up these numbers in the larger part of the Kew Lists in the Microforms part of the MSU Libraries, CD 1043 .K48 and supp. Here you find detailed information and the appropriate call numbers of the materials in the Public Record Office. We do not own the material itself in the M.S.U. Libraries. Some items may be available online at the National Archives website

BOUND SETS OF BRITISH GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS IN THE MAIN STACKS

Documents on British Foreign Policy, 1919-1939 is also online through Documents on British Policy Overseas, link just above here.

Main DA 566.7 .A18 

British and Foreign State Papers, 1912/14-1947

Main JX 103 .A3

British Documents on Foreign Affairs, Part II, Series A, Soviet Union, 1917-1939

Oversize, basement central DK 266 f.A3 B68 1984

Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1919-1939

Main JX 691 .A46

The British War Blue Book, Documents Concerning German-Polish Relations and the Outbreak of Hostilities Between Great Britain and Germany on Sept. 3, 1939

Main D 735 .G7

Documentary Background of World War II, 1931-1941

Main D 735 .G25 1975

Documents and Materials Relating to the Eve of the Second World War

Main D 735 .G366 1948a