Carl Ashley was Web Content Editor for the AHA, and wrote this up on request.

Anyone interested in the details of the recent diplomatic history of the U.S. will want to take a look at the vast and growing archive of the Foreign Relations of the United States series, produced by the Department of State’s Office of the Historian. The online archive currently contains several of the recent volumes available for free online.

Just today, the Office released two new volumes in the series documenting U.S. Foreign relations during the Nixon Administration, which highlight the changing nature of the superpower rivalry during a critical period of the Cold War.

Volume XII offers the full U.S. record from January 1969 to October 1970 of the secret, private channel of dialogue and negotiation between the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs, Henry A. Kissinger, and the Soviet Ambassador in Washington, Anatoly F. Dobrynin.

Volume XIV begins with the announcement in October 1971 of President Nixon’s visit to the Soviet Union and ends with the Moscow summit in May 1972. It presents the record of U.S.-Soviet cooperation and confrontation in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The volume presents a full account of Henry Kissinger’s secret trip to Moscow in April 1972, and a complete record of Nixon’s visit to the Soviet Union in May 1972.

And just last week, Volume XX, Southeast Asia, 1969–1972 was released, documenting U.S. relations with Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, three nations that were key U.S. allies during the Vietnam War. This is the last print volume to document U.S. policy towards the non-Indochinese states of Southeast Asia during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

All volumes are accessiable via the Department of State web site at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/. Print versions will be available soon from the Government Printing Office (GPO) online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For further information contact Edward Keefer, General Editor of the Foreign Relations series, at (202) 663-1131 or by e-mail to history@state.gov.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.