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Government Official History Series

About the Book Series

The Government Official History series began in 1919 with wartime histories, and the peacetime series was inaugurated in 1966 by Harold Wilson. The aim of the series is to produce major histories in their own right, compiled by historians eminent in the field, who are afforded free access to all relevant material in the official archives. The Histories also provide a trusted secondary source for other historians and researchers while the official records are not in the public domain. The main criteria for selection of topics are that the histories should record important episodes or themes of British history while the official records can still be supplemented by the recollections of key players; and that they should be of general interest, and, preferably, involve the records of more than one government department.

22 Series Titles


The Official History of Britain and the European Community, Vol. II From Rejection to Referendum, 1963-1975

The Official History of Britain and the European Community, Vol. II: From Rejection to Referendum, 1963-1975

1st Edition

By Stephen Wall
May 30, 2014

This is the second volume in The Official History of Britain and the European Community, and describes the events from 1963 up until the British referendum on the Common Market in 1975. In 1963, General de Gaulle dashed Prime Minister Macmillan’s hopes of taking Britain into the European ...

The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas Vol. I: The Growing Dominance of the State

The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas: Vol. I: The Growing Dominance of the State

1st Edition

By Alex Kemp
March 27, 2014

Written by the leading expert in UK petroleum economics, this study provides a new, unique, in-depth analysis of the development of British policies towards the North Sea oil and gas industry from the early 1960s to the early 1980s.  Drawing on full access to the UK Government’s relevant ...

The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas Vol. II: Moderating the State’s Role

The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas: Vol. II: Moderating the State’s Role

1st Edition

By Alex Kemp
March 27, 2014

Written by the leading expert in the history of UK energy, this study provides new, in-depth analysis of the development of UK petroleum policies towards the North Sea oil and gas industry from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. Following on from volume I (The Growing Dominance of the State) to ...

The Rise and Fall of a National Strategy The UK and The European Community: Volume 1

The Rise and Fall of a National Strategy: The UK and The European Community: Volume 1

1st Edition

Edited By Alan S. Milward
December 05, 2012

This text analyzes British official thinking behind the UK's standing aloof from the moves after 1945 towards European economic collaboration, leading to the establishment of ECSC and the EEC in the 1950s. It deals with the later change of tack (1961), covers the organization in Whitehall for the ...

Churchill's Man of Mystery Desmond Morton and the World of Intelligence

Churchill's Man of Mystery: Desmond Morton and the World of Intelligence

1st Edition

By Gill Bennett
June 09, 2009

The mysterious life and career of Desmond Morton, Intelligence officer and personal adviser to Winston Churchill during the Second World War, is exposed for the first time in this study based on full access to official records. After distinguished service as artillery officer and aide-de-camp to ...

The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 1 The Origins of the Falklands War

The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 1: The Origins of the Falklands War

1st Edition

By Lawrence Freedman
August 15, 2007

Drawing on a vast range of previously classified government archives as well as interviews with key participants, this first volume of the official history of the Falklands Campaign is the most authoritative account of the origins of the 1982 war. In the first chapters the author analyses the...

The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2 War and Diplomacy

The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy

1st Edition

By Lawrence Freedman
August 14, 2007

In the second volume of his official history of the Falklands Campaign, Lawrence Freedman provides a detailed and authoritative account of one of the most extraordinary periods in recent British political history and a vivid portrayal of a government at war. After the shock of the Argentine ...

SOE in France An Account of the Work of the British Special Operations Executive in France 1940-1944

SOE in France: An Account of the Work of the British Special Operations Executive in France 1940-1944

1st Edition

By M.R.D. Foot
June 18, 2004

SOE in France was first published in 1966, followed by a second impression with amendments in 1968. Since these editions were published, other material on SOE has become available. It was, therefore, agreed in 2000 that Professor Foot should produce a revised version. In so doing, in addition to ...

Secret Flotillas Vol. I: Clandestine Sea Operations to Brittany, 1940-1944

Secret Flotillas: Vol. I: Clandestine Sea Operations to Brittany, 1940-1944

1st Edition

By Brooks Richards
April 16, 2004

With the fall of France, almost the entire coastline of Western Europe was in German hands. Clandestine sea transport operations provided lines of vital intelligence for wartime Britain. These 'secret flotillas' landed and picked up agents in and from France, and ferried Allied evaders and escapees...

Secret Flotillas Vol. II: Clandestine Sea Operations in the Western Mediterranean, North Africa and the Adriatic, 1940-1944

Secret Flotillas: Vol. II: Clandestine Sea Operations in the Western Mediterranean, North Africa and the Adriatic, 1940-1944

1st Edition

By Brooks Richards
April 16, 2004

This authoritative publication by the official historian, the late Sir Brooks Richards, vividly describes and analyses the clandestine naval operations that took place during World War II. The account has been made possible through Sir Brooks' access to closed government archives, combined with his...

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