The collection includes transcripts of interviews recorded with 62 individuals in the making of Iran and the West from the USA, Iran, the UK, France, Germany and other countries. The interviews examine relations between Iran and countries of the West, 1979-2009. The collection also contains footage on DVD of the recorded interviews, as well as documentaries, press cuttings, and published works gathered in the research and production of the documentary.

Subjects covered by the interviews include: the Iranian Revolution, 1979; the fall of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, 1979; the holding of US Embassy staff as hostages, 1979-1981; the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988; the Lebanon hostage crisis, 1982-1992; the Gulf War, 1990-1991; the assassination of Afghan military leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, 9 Sep 2001; the terrorist attacks in the USA, 11 Sep 2001; Iranian involvement in Afghanistan; the labelling of Iran as part of an 'axis of evil', 29 Jan 2002 and the Iran nuclear programme.

Individuals interviewed include Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations, 1982-1991; Roland Dumas, Minister of Foreign Affairs, France 1984-1986 and 1988-1993; Joseph Martin 'Joschka' Fischer, German Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister, 1998-2005; Ambassador Amir Aslan Afshar, Chief of Protocol at the Imperial Court of Iran, 1979; Ali Afshari, member of the Office to Foster Unity, National Islamic Student Association in Iran, 1999-2004 (coordinator of Khatami's student political campaign, 1996-97, student leader of demonstrations, Jul 1999); Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, President of Iran, 1980-81; Queen Farah Pahlavi, Queen of Iran, 1959-1979; Adm Kamal Habibollahi, Commander of the Imperial Iranian Navy, 1975-1979; Abbas Jadidi, Iranian wrestler; Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Iranian cleric and former adviser to Ayatollah Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini, 1985-89; Gen Mohsen Rafiqdoust, Commander, Minister for Revolutionary Guard, 1982-89; Gen Mohsen Rezaee (also Mohsen Rezai), Commander in Chief of the Revolutionary Guard, 1981-1997; Mohsen Sazegara, Khomeini's press officer in Paris, October 1978-February 1979; Sadeq Tabatabai, negotiator with the USA for Khomeini 1978-1979, Government Spokesman 1979; Ebrahim Yazdi, Foreign Minister of Iran 1979; Ardeshir Zahedi, Iranian ambassador to the USA, 1959-1962 and 1973-1979, Iranian ambassador to Britain, 1962-1966, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1966-1973; Ambassador Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 2003-2007; Sir Geoffrey Adams, British Ambassador to Iran, 2006-2009; Margaret Beckett, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 2006-2007; John Sawers, British Ambassador to Egypt, 2001-2003, Special Representative for Iraq, 2003; Political director of British Foreign and Commonwealth office, 2003-2007; British Ambassador to the United Nations 2007-2009; Jack Straw, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 2001-2006; Michael Williams, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Special Advisor on the Middle East, 2006-2007; Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State 1997-2001; Ambassador John Bolton, US Under Secretary of State, Arms Control and International Security, 2001-2005, US Permanent Representative to UN, 2005-2006; Zbigniew (Kasimierz) Brzezinski, US National Security Advisor, 1977-1981; James Earl 'Jimmy' Carter, US President, 1977-1981; Warren Christopher, Deputy US Secretary of State 1977-81; US negotiator for the release of the US embassy hostages held in Iran, 1980-81; US Secretary of State, 1993-1997; Ambassador Richard Haass, Special Assistant to United States President and National Security Council Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs, 1989-1993; Director of Policy Planning, US Department of State 2001-2003; Martin Indyk, US Ambassador to Israel 1995-1997 and 2000-2001; Assistant Secretary of State, Near East, State Department 1997-99; Walter Mondale, USA Vice-President, 1977-1981; Adm John Poindexter, US National Security Advisor 1983-1986; Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor to US Presidents 1974-1977 and 1989-1993; George Shultz, US Secretary of State 1982-1989; Commander Gary Sick, Principal Adviser on Middle East Affairs, US National Security Council, 1977-81; Yusuf Allawai Bin Abdullah, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Oman; Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of Russia, 2000-2008, Prime Minister of Russia 1999 and 2008- ; Javier Solana, European Union Secretary-General and High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, 1999-; Sheikh Subhi al-Tufayli, follower of Iranian Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini, first Secretary-General of Hezbollah, 1989-1991.

Papers, 1950s-1980s, of Professor David W Arnott on West African languages, comprising papers, including notes and questionnaires, from his study leave (1955-1956) spent travelling from Nigeria through Niger, Dahomey (Benin), Upper Volta (Burkina Faso), French Sudan (Mali), Senegal and Gambia to Guinea and Sierra Leone; copies (photocopied and photographic) of manuscripts; translations and transcriptions; transcriptions of language recordings; seminar and conference papers; teaching material; offprints of articles by Arnott; typescripts or corrected proofs of articles; and reviews of books by other authors. The papers relate largely to Nigeria but also to Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal, relating mainly to Fulfulde, Fula and Fulani (language of the Fulani people of West Africa), and also to Tiv and to Hausa poetry and songs. The subjects include literature, including poetry (religious and non-religious), oral literature and folklore, proverbial lore, Islamic influences on African literary cultures, grammar, including morphology, verbal and nominal systems, nouns, vocabulary, and the distribution of dialects.

Iran: The Making of US Policy, 1977- 1980, is a themed microfiche collection which presents an integrated record of US foreign policy relating to Iran, 20 Jan 1977-29 Jan 1980. Included are memoranda, cabled messages, US embassy and consulate messages, Department of State reports, Central Intelligence Agency reports, US National Security Council reports and studies, and academic historical and political studies of the Middle East generally and Iran specifically, 21 Jan 1943-30 Apr 1980. Although the focus of this document set is on the 1977-1980 period, nearly one-third of the documents listed in the catalogue relate to the period prior to 1977. These are materials that were used in the preparation of the major internal inter-agency review of US-Iranian relations, the US Department of State 'White Paper'. The collection covers the beginning of the popular protests and mass demonstrations that resulted in the Iranian revolution of Feb 1979, which overthrew the pro-American monarchy of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, and established the Islamic Republic of Iran. The collection also covers efforts by the US and the Iranian Provisional Government under Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan to normalise relations between Iran and the US, which were frustrated by challenges from Islamic organisations including the Revolutionary Council. The collection records in detail the US reaction to the Iranian Constitutional Assembly, which pitted secular against religious forces during the drafting of the new constitution and which led to the formal establishment of a theocracy and the loss of Iran as a US strategic ally, Feb-Jun 1979. Documents include US Department of State report detailing the stability of Iran under the Shah and the effectiveness of SAVAK, the Iranian domestic and foreign intelligence agency, as a law enforcement agency, 28 Jan 1977; US Embassy, Teheran, Annual Policy and Resource Assessment report identifying US interests in Iran as stable, 4 Apr 1977; briefing paper for Cyrus Roberts Vance, US Secretary of State, for his first visit with the Shah, 30 Apr 1977; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report affirming the stability of the Iranian political regime, Aug 1977; US Department of State cables relating to the police suppression of anti-Shah demonstrations at Qom, the religious centre of Iran's Shiite community, and the resulting series of mass demonstrations against the Shah, Jan-Dec 1978; US Department of State inspection memorandum describing US relations with Iran as excellent, 4 May 1978; US Department of State memoranda concerning meeting of 13 May 1978, at which chief Iranian military and security personnel devised plans to deal with the rise of anti- government demonstrations, 23 May 1978; cable from William H Sullivan, US Ambassador to Iran, relating to the increasing dissent in Iran and the Shah's fears of the religious opposition to his monarchy presented by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, 1 Jun 1978; US Department of State airgram relating to meeting held between the Shah and Nasser Moghaddam, Director of SAVAK, in which the Shah ordered that all future demonstrations be broken up by force, 22 Jul 1978; US Department of State cable concerning the Iranian armed forces being put on alert in all major towns in Iran following a series of anti-government bombings, 14 Aug 1978; reports from the US Embassy, Teheran, relating to the 'Black Friday' massacre of anti-government protesters in Jelah Square, Teheran, 8 Sep 1978; US Department of State cable relating to riots in Teheran resulting in the destruction of Western businesses and the occupation of the British Embassy, Teheran, 5 Nov 1978; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report relating to the wave of anti-government protests in Iran during the spring of 1978, 5 Nov 1978; US Department of State cable from Ambassador Sullivan to the White House urging the US government to consider that the Shah may have to abdicate in favour of a coalition government, 9 Nov 1978; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) profile of Khomeini describing him as the central figure in the anti-Shah movement and his proposed regime as xenophobic and hostile towards Western interests in the region, 20 Nov 1978; US Embassy reports to Washington, DC, relating to the Shah's departure from Iran, Jan 1979; US Department of State cables relating to the return of Khomeini to Iran from Paris, France, and his subsequent demands for the resignation of the Iranian Provisional Government, Feb 1979; US Embassy reports relating to the establishment of the Islamic Revolutionary Council under the leadership of Khomeini, Feb 1979; US Department of State cables relating to the deteriorating civil situation in Iran and growing anti-US sentiments, culminating in the seizure of the US Embassy, Teheran, and 66 of its employees, Feb-Nov 1979.

File of papers by Lt Col Charles Leofric Boyle on tensions between Hindu and Muslim troops on HM Troopship EMPIRE PRIDE, Oct 1947. Including report by Maj O A Mitchell, Officer Commanding 105 GPT Company, 10 Oct 1947, for Boyle as Officer Commanding Troops, HM Troopship EMPIRE PRIDE, on the morale of the Indian troops, both Muslim and Hindu (1 page); Seven telegrams between HM Troopship EMPIRE PRIDE and Bombay, 11-16 October 1947, on the worsening relations between the Muslim and Hindu troops on board, and obtaining permission to disembark Muslim troops at Karachi, instead of Bombay, as planned (7 items); report upon the diversion of HM Troopship EMPIRE PRIDE to Karachi, owing to the communal unrest on board by Boyle as Officer Commanding Troops, 19 Oct 1947; file also includes a photograph of Boyle and Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, [1940-45], standing on railway gun 'HMG Boche-Buster', near Canterbury, Kent

Papers, c1900-1992, collected by Jean Boyd, relating to northern Nigeria from the late 18th century to the 1990s.

Papers on Nana Asma'u include copies of her manuscript poems (1820-1865) and later papers relating to her work, including translations, 1976-1984. Papers on works by Shehu dan Fodio include copies of his poems on male-female relationships (1789 and undated) and later papers relating to his work, 1975-1981. Papers on works by Asma'u's female relatives and descendants include copies of poems and writings by various authors (c1860-1934 and undated) and later papers relating to the subject, c1950-1990. Other material comprises field notes on the remnants of Asma'u's disciples, the Yan Taru, 1973-1990; papers on the milieu in which Asma'u lived in Gobir, c1900-1984, including Gobir chiefs; papers, including press cuttings, on the situation of women in northern Nigeria in the 1980s, the subjects including Muslims, prostitution, women's organizations, medical matters, and women's education.

Papers, 1903-1992, including articles, reports and press cuttings, on Sokoto relate to geological history, prehistory, palaeontology, archaeology, pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history, the subjects including the social and economic history of the city of Sokoto, colonial administration, British fears over Mahdism, and local government and economic issues in Sokoto state in modern Nigeria.

Three volumes contain over 500 postcards, many in colour, relating to Nigeria, including images of people, cultural events, various places, and other aspects of Nigerian life [late 20th century].

Papers relating to the development of CCADD, 1958-1964; minutes of meetings including executive committee meetings, executive sub-committee meetings, annual general meetings, management committee meetings, research group meetings, publications group meetings and regional group meetings, 1965-1994; correspondence and enquiries, 1963-2000; general administrative, membership and financial files, 1964-2003; papers relating to conferences and seminars, 1963-2003, including audio recordings for 1964 and 1967; research, correspondence, drafts and publicity for publications including The Ethics of Nuclear Deterrence (1982), The Strategic Defence Initiative: New Hope or New Peril (1985-1986), Retaliation - a political and strategic option under moral and religious scrutiny (1989-1990), Some Corner of a Foreign Field: Intervention and World Order (1997), The Crescent and the Cross: Muslim and Christian Approaches to War and Peace (1990-1998), Demanding Peace: Christian Responses to War and Violence (1999), Witnesses to Faith?: The Concept of Martyrdom in Christianity and Islam (2005); papers in connection with the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, 1976-1998; papers of Sydney Bailey, CCADD founding member, 1964-1998, including "Memorandum and Articles of Association of The Conference on Christian Approaches to Defence and Disarmament Limited", 1965; papers relating to the Sydney Bailey Memorial Lecture and Thanksgiving Book Fund, 1997-2000; papers of the Working Group on Chemical and Biological Weapons Issues, 1995-1996; teaching materials for Peace Studies courses held at Fircroft College of Adult Education, Birmingham, 1990, and Bradford University, 1994; research into responses to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, 1995, the arms trade, 1998, and to NATO enlargement, 1996-1998. Also papers and bulletins for related bodies, including: the Verification Technology Information Centre (VERTIC), 1994-1995; the Programme for Promoting Nuclear Non-Proliferation, 1994-1998; the Council for Arms Control, 1983-1998; the Churches Peace Forum 1993-1995; Pax Christi International, 1989; and the British-American Security Information Council (BASIC), 1992.

Archive of the British Humanist Association, including: papers of the British Humanist Association and it's predecessors bodies, The Union of Ethical Societies, The Ethical Union and the Humanist Association,1887 - c.2001; papers of the Humanist Trust, 1958 - 1996; papers of groups affiliated to the British Humanist Association and it's predecessor bodies, The Union of Ethical Societies and The Ethical Union, 1892 - 2007; Uncatalogued material of the British Humanist Association, c.2000-2014. (1887-2014)

Papers of Professor Ernest André Gellner, [1946]-1996, notably correspondence with friends and colleagues, [1946-1995], including Professor Sir Isaiah Berlin, Professor (Avram) Noam Chomsky, Professor Bernard Rowland Crick, Professor John Horsley Russell Davis, Professor Ralf Dahrendorf, Baron Dahrendorf of Clare Market, Professor Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard, Professor Sir Raymond (William) Firth, Professor (Walter) Bryce Gallie, Sir Victor Gollancz, Professor John Rankine (Jack) Goody, Professor Richard Mervyn Hare, Professor Sir Edmund Ronald Leach, Professor Claude Lévi-Strauss, Anne Mary Lonsdale, Professor Alan Donald James Macfarlane, (Jean) Iris Murdoch, Professor Sir Karl (Raimund) Popper, Professor Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, Professor Gilbert Ryle, Professor Edward W Said, Charles Percy Snow, Baron Snow, George Soros, Professor Alfred Stepan, Professor (Ann) Marilyn Strathern, and Professor Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams; material relating to Gellner's teaching work at the London School of Economics and Cambridge University, 1977-1989, including individual files relating to his PhD students, 1977-1984, and correspondence with Macfarlane regarding the administration of the Anthropology Department at Cambridge, 1988-1989; papers created during Gellner's time as Director of the Centre for the Study of Nationalism at the central European University, 1992-1996, notably correspondence with students, material relating to conferences, Senate papers, documents concerning the financial future of the Centre, details of project funding and grant proposals, and correspondence relating to the Erasmus Chair at Warsaw University; material relating to field trips to Morocco, [1950-1968], probably in connection with Gellner's PhD thesis, including maps, manuscripts, correspondence, field notes, research notes, reports and photographs; manuscripts, 1957-1995, some with corrections, of Gellner's published books and articles, as well as unpublished material, on subjects including anthropology, Islam, social science, nationalism, politics and religion, imperialism, Marxism, the London School of Economics, philosophy, history, culture, psychoanalysis, Eastern Europe, and Russia; offprints and newspaper cuttings of reviews of Gellner's work, 1957-1995, and reviews written by Gellner concerning the work of others, 1960-1995; papers relating to the publishing of books, [1957-1996], including proofs, contracts with publishers, and correspondence; tapes and films, 1982-1990, mainly comprising lectures on philosophy by Gellner; obituaries and papers relating to the memorial service in Prague, 1995.

Archives of the Conference of British Missionary Societies, largely dating from 1912-1970, including some material dating from 1872-1973, relating to administration, the work of other missionary bodies, and issues affecting missionary work.

Records, 1901-1970, of the Standing Committee and other committees comprise minutes, annual reports, and administrative papers and correspondence, including some relating to the CBMS constitution, finance, staffing, World War Two, and broadcasting, and papers relating to various other missionary bodies, including the Foreign Missions Conference of North America and National Council of Churches in Christ in the USA, 1893-1960 (Ref: S).

Records, 1907-1968, of the Home Council comprise minutes and administrative papers (Ref: H); records, 1926-1960, relating to audio-visual aids, including minutes, administrative papers, and reviews of films (Ref: H/AVA); records, 1920-1944, of the Far and Near Press Bureau, with detailed information on numerous individual missionaries and missionary issues, including BBC talks, publications, manuscripts and matching press cuttings, and obituaries (arranged chronologically), biographical files and photographs of people and regions (arranged alphabetically), and background information on various areas (Ref: H/PB); records, 1921-1960, relating to recruitment and training of missionaries (Ref: H/RT); records, 1946-1965, of the Schools Committee, relating to speakers, exhibitions and publicity material (Ref: H/Sc); records, 1939-1961, of the Youth Committee (Ref: H/Y); records, 1907-1968, of the United Council for Missionary Education and Edinburgh House Press, including minutes, finance papers, records of publications and papers relating to production, stock and publicity, book reviews, correspondence, and publications on missionaries and missionary subjects (Ref: H/UP).

Area files, including correspondence with national Christian councils, overseas governments and overseas churches and churchmen, comprise minutes of the Africa Committee and papers on missionary work in countries in Central, East, Southern and West Africa, 1915-1960, touching on educational work, political events and decolonization, African customs, Islam, social problems, and interethnic relations, including papers of the Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies (including areas outside Africa), 1927-1961 (Ref: A); records of the Committee on Work among Jews and Near and Middle East Committee and papers relating to missionary work in Middle Eastern countries and Egypt, 1921-1967, touching on work among Moslems, political events and refugee issues (Ref: N); records of the West Indies Committee and papers relating to missionary work in the Caribbean, 1938-1968, touching on social and economic development (Ref: W); records of the Asia Committee and papers on missionary work, including educational and medical work, in China, India, and other parts of East, South, and South East Asia, 1872-1964, including political events, the Sino-Japanese War and World War Two, the development of Communism in China, and political events and self-government in India (Ref: E).

Records on literature and medical work comprise records of the Christian Literature Committee and Christian Literature Council, including finance and policy papers, and papers relating to literacy and literature in Central, East, Southern and West Africa, East, South, and South East Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean and Latin America, 1920-1968 (Ref: L); records of the Medical Advisory Board and papers on medical missionary work in Africa, India and China, 1928-1963 (Ref: M).

Records on co-operative action with other missionary bodies relate to the World Missionary Conference and its Continuation Committee, 1907-1929, the International Missionary Council, 1917-1973, World Council of Churches, 1945-1960, and British Council of Churches, 1938-1960 (Ref: C).

Papers, c1889-1970, of Professor Peter Malcolm Holt, chiefly comprising collected notes, facsimiles and microfilms of manuscripts relating to Muhammed Ahmad ibn 'Abd Allah, the Mahdi. The papers relate to Holt's major works The Mahdist State in the Sudan 1881-1898 and The Cambridge History of Islam.

Papers, 1870-1914, of Roland Lyon Nosworthy Michell, including his diaries, 1872, 1873, 1878, journals, 1870-1872, 1874-1876, and correspondence, 1878-1914, together with research material for his publications, including notes on the Dervish sects, of which he had a first hand knowledge.

Pakistan pamphlets, leaflets, speeches, reports, conference reports, letters, newsletters, and miscellaneous materials, from 1940 onwards issued by the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (Jammu and Kashmir, India), Jamiatiattehad-Ul-Ulma, the Muslim India Information Centre, the National Awami Party of Pakistan (London), the National Democratic Movement (Pakistan), the National Progressive League (Pakistan), the Pakistan Democratic Party, the Pakistan Muslim League, the Pakistan National Movement, and the Pakistan People's Party.

Journals of Humphrey Fisher, 1973-1978, describing in detail trips to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Ghana, on study leave, as visiting lecturer at Cuttington College (Liberia), or as external examiner to Fourah Bay College (Sierra Leone), with appendices of relevant documents and source material, including transcripts of correspondence between or concerning the Ahmadiyya movement and the Muslim League in India (1938-1946).

Papers, 1931-1990, of Sir James Norman Dalrymple Anderson, comprising correspondence, articles and documents concerned with Islamic law in the Middle East and East Africa; sermons, lectures and notes on Christianity; personal correspondence including an exchange of letters with the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1960; and personal documents.