History
Following refurbishment in 1996, a late Victorian feel to the Library has been successfully recaptured. With tall, floor-to-ceiling, book-filled shelves, the large, semi-circular, room, rising through two floors and surrounded by a gallery, now resembles closely the room designed by Sir Aston Webb and Ingress Bell in 1893.
The Library has been an integral part of the Institute since the beginning. Its approximately 16,000 volumes form a unique repository of books relating to military science and history, to which are added an average of 125 new titles each year. Although the collection is not governed by restrictions on historical periods , it is strongest on 18th , 19th and 20th century military affairs. In addition to histories of the three Services, including a large and growing collection of regimental histories, there are over 3,000 military related biographies. Among the special historical collections are books covering the various British colonial wars of the 19th century, including the Boer War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the American Civil War, the Franco-Prussian War, the Russo-Japanese War, the Spanish Civil War and World Wars I and II and the Korean War. Further conflicts covered include the Malay Emergency, the Vietnam War, the Falklands War and the Gulf War of 1991. Among the books dealing with military science are those on strategy, tactics, weapons and weapons systems, special operations, peacekeeping, revolutionary and counter-insurgency warfare, terrorism, women in the armed forces and ethics in warfare. While military history is important, the Library is also a source for new information on developments in British defence policy and international security issues, including defence economics. In this role it supports the ongoing work in these areas by the Institute's team of researchers.
Apart from a small number of documents pertaining to the Institute's history, manuscript material, including documents previously held by the RUSI Museum (disbanded in 1963) no longer form part of the RUSI Library collection. Researchers seeking such material are directed to the Public Record Office, the National Maritime Museum, the National Army Museum and the Imperial War Museum.
The Library has been an integral part of the Institute since the beginning. Its approximately 16,000 volumes form a unique repository of books relating to military science and history, to which are added an average of 125 new titles each year. Although the collection is not governed by restrictions on historical periods , it is strongest on 18th , 19th and 20th century military affairs. In addition to histories of the three Services, including a large and growing collection of regimental histories, there are over 3,000 military related biographies. Among the special historical collections are books covering the various British colonial wars of the 19th century, including the Boer War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the American Civil War, the Franco-Prussian War, the Russo-Japanese War, the Spanish Civil War and World Wars I and II and the Korean War. Further conflicts covered include the Malay Emergency, the Vietnam War, the Falklands War and the Gulf War of 1991. Among the books dealing with military science are those on strategy, tactics, weapons and weapons systems, special operations, peacekeeping, revolutionary and counter-insurgency warfare, terrorism, women in the armed forces and ethics in warfare. While military history is important, the Library is also a source for new information on developments in British defence policy and international security issues, including defence economics. In this role it supports the ongoing work in these areas by the Institute's team of researchers.
Apart from a small number of documents pertaining to the Institute's history, manuscript material, including documents previously held by the RUSI Museum (disbanded in 1963) no longer form part of the RUSI Library collection. Researchers seeking such material are directed to the Public Record Office, the National Maritime Museum, the National Army Museum and the Imperial War Museum.
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