Guides: HIST 438: Vietnam Wars: Home

Find Primary Sources

Archival Collections

US Documents

Digital National Security Archive (ProQuest)
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Includes the following subcollections:
-U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part I, 1954-1968
-U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part II, 1969-1975
-Kissinger Transcripts
-Kissinger Telephone Conversations

Virtual Vietnam Archive
The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive collects and preserves the documentary record of the Vietnam War, and supports and encourages research and education regarding all aspects of the American Vietnam Experience.
The Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force", was commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967. In June of 1971, small portions of the report were leaked to the press and widely distributed. However, the publications of the report that resulted from these leaks were incomplete and suffered from many quality issues. The complete Report is now available with no redactions compared to previous releases.
CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room
The FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) Electronic Reading Room is provided as a public service by the Directorate of Digital Innovation's Information Management Services.
Presidential Recordings
The Presidential Recordings Project makes recordings of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon available to researchers.
U.S. Relations and Policies in Southeast Asia, 1944-1958: Records of the Office of Southeast Asian Affairs
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This collection identifies the key issues, individuals, and events in the history of U.S.-Southeast Asia relations between 1944 and 1958, and places them in the context of the complex and dynamic regional strategic, political, and economic processes that have fashioned the American role in Southeast Asia.
Indochina, France, and the Viet Minh War, 1945-1954: Records of the U.S. State Department, Part 1: 1945-1949
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Comprising records of the State Department’s Central Classified Files, this collection contains records relating to the internal affairs of Indochina, during the period 1945-49. The records include instructions sent to and correspondence received by the State Department; the State Department’s internal documentation, as well as correspondence between the Department and other federal departments and agencies, Congress, and private individuals and organizations; telegrams, airgrams, instructions, inquiries, studies, memoranda, situation reports, translations, special reports, plans, and official and unofficial correspondence.
Intelligence Reports from the National Security Council's Vietnam Information Group, 1967-1975
The Vietnam Information Group consisted of NSC staff members responsible for monitoring cable traffic from other agencies reporting on events in South and North Vietnam. The collection consists primarily of State Department cables and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) intelligence information cables. In addition, this collection includes a variety of reports, memoranda, and clippings.
Ambassador Graham Martin and the Saigon Embassy’s Back Channel Communication Files, 1963-1975
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Consists of State Department telegrams and White House backchannel messages between U.S. ambassadors in Saigon and White House national security advisers, talking points for meetings with South Vietnamese officials, intelligence reports, drafts of peace agreements, and military status reports. Subjects include the Diem coup, the Paris peace negotiations, the fall of South Vietnam, and other U.S./South Vietnam relations topics, 1963 to 1975.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States

British Documents

Documents on British Policy Overseas‎
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A fully searchable collection of primary source documents from Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), shedding light on diplomatic history throughout the 20th C.
Coverage: 1898 - 1990
The Nixon years, 1969-1974 (Adam Matthew)
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This collection provides complete FCO 7 and FCO 82 files for the entire period of Richard Nixon’s presidency. Top-level Anglo-American discussions and briefing papers dominate these papers.
Foreign Office Files for China 1919-1980 (Adam Matthew)
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Six-part collection containing British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980.
Text mining is permitted, but certain conditions apply. Please contact Digital Scholarship Hub
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (ProQuest)
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As the working documents of government, ProQuest U.K. Parliamentary Papers encompass all areas of social, political, economic and foreign policy, showing how issues were explored and legislation was formed.
Library can facilitate negotiating text-mining rights for this database for McGill faculty and students wishing to acquire the rights with their own research funds. Please contact Digital Scholarship Hub

Canadian Documents

Documents on Canadian External Relations (1946-63)

Australian Documents

Australian National Archives
Select "Digital Copies Only" at the end of the Advanced Search form.

Vietnamese Documents

Documents of an Elite Viet Cong Delta Unit: The Demolition Platoon of the 514th Battalion (translated)
Vietnamese materials collected by Jefferey Race
In Vietnamese. Photocopies and carbon copies of documents collected in Viet Nam during 1967 and 1968, along with interviews relating to the communist revolutionary movement in Long An Province.
Available through Interlibrary Loan (click "Request via Interlibrary Loan" and login with your McGill credentials.
Virtual Vietnam Archive
Contains some Vietnamese-language material in the Combined Document Exploitation Center collection.

Foreign-Language Documents in Translation

To find print and eBooks in our collection, search: su:Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Sources.

Cold War International History Project (Wilson Center)
Collections of archival documents on the Cold War era from the once secret archives of former communist countries. Scroll past dateline to see Featured Collections.
Indochinese War (Wilson Center)
Geneva Conference of 1954 (Wilson Center)
Vietnam War (Wilson Center)
Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security

Newspapers & Magazines

English

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
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Gale Historical Newspapers

Readers' Guide Retrospective:1890-1982 (H.W. Wilson)
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French

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Le Monde (1944 - 2000)
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Russian

Pravda Digital Archive Pravda ("Truth") was the official voice of Soviet communism and the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1918 and 1991.
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Chinese

People's Daily - Renmin Ribao

Find Secondary Sources

Encyclopedias

The Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War by David Anderson
Call Number: DS557.5 .A54 2002

Indochina War (UQAM)

Find books and eBooks

Library Catalogue

Find peer-reviewed articles

Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)
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This database contains references to journal articles, book reviews and some dissertations about the history of all parts of the world from 1450 on, EXCLUDING Canada and the United States. In the search options, select "Peer Reviewed" and enter "Historical Period" (e.g., Start Year: 1955 To End Year: 1975).
America: History and Life
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Provides historical coverage of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes information abstracted from over 2,000 journals published worldwide.

TIP: You can search both Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life simultaneously! After opening one of the databases, click "Choose Databases". In the pop-up window, click the other database. Now any search you conduct will occur on both platforms!

Citations

History as a discipline uses the Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition) for citations, and usually the Notes-Bibliography form. This requires creating properly formatted footnotes footnotes and a Bibliography for your assignments. Resources to understand the Chicago style of citations are included below.

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition
Call Number: Z253 U69 2017
Publication Date: 2017
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition by Kate L. Turabian
Call Number: LB2369 T8 2018
Publication Date: 2018
A guide to Chicago Manual of Style with more information on hard-to-cite or unusual sources than the original manual.

Guides

Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide
McGill Library Citation Subject Guide
Under "citation styles by subject", select "History" for more resources on Chicago style.

Library Support

Chicago Workshops
McGill Librarians offer two virtual Chicago Citation Style workshops per term. Follow this link to find and register for upcoming workshops!
Citation Management
Attend a workshop to learn how to use Zotero or EndNote, useful citation management systems. Zotero is highly recommended for History students!

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