Modern History - HSC

Resources for HSC Modern History and History Extension

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are kindly advised that this website includes images, sounds and names of people who have passed.

All users should be aware that some topics or historical content may be culturally sensitive, offensive or distressing, and that some images may contain nudity or are of people not yet identified. Certain words, terms or descriptions may reflect the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written, but are now considered inappropriate in today's context.

Key to library resources

Access anywhere with a library card In the Library (or anywhere with a Library card for NSW residents)
Available to access in the library Only in the Library
Publicly available online Publicly available

Finding Books

 

Search Catalogue

 

Using the search button above, you can search through the Library's entire collection, ranging from:

  • Published works, like books & reports
  • Unpublished material, like photographs & maps
  • Eresources like ebooks and journal articles – accessible from anywhere

Get a Library card to request and use material from the Library’s collections.

We’re a reference library, not a lending library:

  • Books and other materials must be used onsite at the Library
  • Books you have requested will be reserved for 7 days on Lower Ground 2 (LG2) in the Governor Marie Bashir Reading Room
  • You can borrow some books on interlibrary loan through your public library – speak to your local library

HSC Info collection:

  • Find useful Modern History resources on the reference shelf in the HSC Info collection on LG2
  • You don’t need a Library card to use any material on the Reading Room shelves
     

Critics' picks

Find the best new books and recent magazines from Australia and around the world in our Governor Marie Bashir Reading Room.
There are over 1,000 new books available to browse and read in our Critics’ Picks section on LG1 and LG2. Books are organised by subjects such as History, Geography and Travel, Social Sciences and Current Affairs; Business and Politics; Literature and Language; Science, Technology and Medicine; and Arts and Recreation.

How to Find Critics' Picks in the catalogue

This shows you how to search for Critics' Picks books, you can swap 'history' for any subject you're interested in.

gif showing the search process, which involves selecting 'book' in the format drop-down; then typing "critics picks" with a secondary keyword such as history.

Modern History resources in the Reading Room

Modern History HSC resources can be found on the HSC Info resources shelves on LG2 of the Governor Marie Bashir Reading Room.

You will find study guides and books by academics and historians to support core study areas. 

Selected History Titles

News from Germany

To control information is to control the world. This innovative history reveals how, across two devastating wars, Germany attempted to build a powerful communication empire--and how the Nazis manipulated the news to rise to dominance in Europe and further their global agenda.

Boots on the Ground

America's war in Vietnam. In over a decade of bitter fighting, it claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American soldiers and beleaguered four US presidents. More than forty years after America left Vietnam in defeat in 1975, the war remains controversial and divisive both in the United States and abroad.

The Cold War's Killing Fields

A brilliant young historian offers a vital, comprehensive international military history of the Cold War in which they view the decade-long superpower struggles as one of the three great conflicts of the twentieth century alongside the two World Wars, and reveals how bloody the "Long Peace" actually was.

A Companion to Public History

An authoritative overview of the developing field of public history reflecting theory and practice around the globe This unique reference guides readers through this relatively new field of historical inquiry, exploring the varieties and forms of public history, its relationship with popular history, and the ways in which the field has evolved internationally over the past thirty years.

Colonialism in Global Perspective

Weaves together the study of colonialism over the past 500 years. Introducing the reader to manifestations of colonialism as expressed through war, militarization, extractive economies, migrations and diasporas, racialization, biopolitical management, and unruly and creative responses and resistances by colonized peoples.