Department of History

Databases for Military History

USMA Library subscribes to over 100 history-related databases 

The following suggestions are intended to help you get started.

Databases - Primary Sources

• American Civil War: Letters and Diaries - Browse a collection of over 2,009 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of diaries, letters and memoirs. In addition, there are 4,000 pages of previously unpublished manuscripts such as the letters of Amos Wood and his wife and the diary of Maryland Planter William Claytor. The collection also includes biographies, an extensive bibliography of the sources in the database, and material licensed from The Civil War Day-by-Day by E.B. Long.

• Conditions and Politics in Occupied Western Europe, 1940-1945  - Full-text documents received in the British Foreign Office from all European states under Nazi occupation during World War II. Primary sources relate to wartime conditions in France, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Vatican.

• Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports - Discover translated transcripts of foreign radio and television broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements. The reports are from 1974-1996 and contain political, military, economic, environmental, and sociological news and information.

•  Issues & Controversies in History - Users will find background, outcome, and contemporary points of view for every major debate and conflict in history. Topics are presented in a pro/con format that clearly explains both sides of the historical dispute, each article is supported by a timeline and a wealth of primary sources.

• Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War - Explore British government secret intelligence and foreign policy files from 1873 to 1953, with the majority of files dating from the 1930s and 1940s. Content includes resources from the following 20th century conflicts: the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the early years of the Cold War and the Korean War.

Databases - Secondary Sources 

• EBSCOhost Provides access to a wide range of databases, many with full text. Chose to search one database or search all.
• JSTOR - Provides access to scholarly journals and books in a wide range of disciplines 
• Cambridge Histories Online - This collection consists of over 300 volumes from the Cambridge Histories series. The volumes are grouped by specific subject areas, making it quick and easy to search and browse through an array of historical topics.
• Oxford Bibliographies Online: Military History - Peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on military history. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable. Contains a "My OBO" function that allows users to create personalized bibliographies of individual citations from different bibliographies.
• War & Terrorism Collection - Browse articles on war and its causes, current events, terrorism, and more.