Web Links on Cold War topics

• Air Force History Index - a searchable index of 550,000 documents held by the Air Force Historical Research Agency; the documents themselves can be requested from the agency, following the instructions from the site’s "Obtaining Documents" link.
• The Missile, Space and Range Pioneers
  Founded by and for people "engaged in missile, space or range activities that culminate in a test or launch program at DoD or NASA facilities in Florida and in their off-shore and down-range stations", but membership is now open to everyone interested in those topics.
• Tom's Cold War Memories Page
  What it was like growing up in a Washington, DC suburb during the height of the Cold War.
• The Nike Project (Beverly, MA)
  A memorial to the missiles which once protected the Boston area.
• The Early Warning Connection
  Prompt and reliable warning of a nuclear attack was a vital component of national defense in the Cold War, and the West invested heavily in systems designed to provide detect and identify incoming enemy bombers and missiles. This web site offers links to very informative sites dedicated to individual early-warning systems.
• "In From the Cold" - The DoD Cold War Cultural Newsletter
  An excellent publication documenting efforts within the Federal government to identify, preserve, and protect significant structures and facilities from the Cold War era.
• Coming in from the Cold: Military Heritage in the Cold War
  Report on the Department of Defense Legacy Cold War Project.
• Department of the Navy Reference Guide to Historic Properties
  State-by-state listing includes Cold War-era sites.
• Jerry Proc's Crypto Machines page
  Information on the machines used to send and receive encrypted messages.
• The Nuclear Weapon Archive
  Lots of information and links related to nuclear weapons.
• The U.S. Air Force 789th Communications Squadron
  Headquartered at Andrews AFB, MD, the 789th operates high-frequency radio stations at Brandywine and Davidsonville, MD, providing world-wide strategic communications.
• The Cold War
  Web site for the Cable News Network's documentary series "The Cold War".
• The National Security Archive
  The National Security Archive combines a unique range of functions in one non-governmental, non-profit institution. The Archive is simultaneously a research institute on international affairs, a library and archive of declassified U.S. documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, a public interest law firm defending and expanding public access to government information through the FOIA, and an indexer and publisher of the documents in books, microfiche, and electronic formats.
• Permissive Action Links
  Steven M. Bellovin's intriguing, well-reasoned speculation about the mechanisms used to prevent unauthorized detonation of nuclear weapons. Includes references and web links.
• Keeping Presidents in the Nuclear Dark (Episode #1: The Case of the Missing "Permissive Action Links")
  Surprising historical information about an important nuclear-weapons safeguard, by national-security researcher and former Minuteman missile launch officer Bruce G. Blair.
• NARA Cold War Conference proceedings
  From the 1998 conference "The Power of Free Inquiry and Cold War International History", co-hosted by the National Archives and Records Administration and the University of Maryland. Contains an outline of proceedings, and links to 17 formal paper presentations and commentators' remarks.
• Teletypewriters - by Vaux Electronics
  Teletypewriters were used extensively in defense communications during the Cold War.

Civil Defense

• Nuclear Survival
  Preparedness information, shelter plans, Civil Defense publications
• Conelrad
  An irreverent look Cold War civil defense
• Military.com remembers the Cold War
  Civil defense history, photos, shelter plans
• Civil Defense: You Duck and I'll Cover
  Shelter plans, "Bert the Turtle", how to build a fallout meter

Cold War Infrastructure in the U.K.

• The Research Study Group
  The RSG is doing an outstanding job of investigating and documenting Cold War defense sites in the United Kingdom. Their web site is full of fascinating details, reflecting the quality and thoroughness of the group's research work.
• Cold War Communications in the U.K.
  Learn how Britain addressed the problem of survivable telephone communications.

Commercial Sources

Updated on September 6, 2009 at 01:40 by Albert LaFrance

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