The Chadwyck-Healey Liberation Collection (1944-46) at Cambridge University Library is a comprehensive collection of books and pamphlets in French on the subjects of the Second World War, the Occupation and the Liberation published during a period of just over two years, from August 1944 to the end of 1946.

The purpose of the collection is to show how the French used the medium of the book to express what had happened to them over the previous five years but the decision to collect everything published on three broad subjects within a limited period provides an unique opportunity to survey the state of book publishing and printing in France at a time when the country was just beginning its long recovery.

You can consult an online exhibition of books from the Liberation collection on Cambridge University Library website and join the Liberation collection Facebook group.

The name of the pictures is their classmark in the Cambridge University Library collection where the books are held. Some of the pictures in the Flickr album link to relevant articles on the Liberation collection in the Languages Across Borders blog.

There is a distinct dataset of all Liberation collection book covers (c. 3300). The metadata is available online, but if you are interested in accessing the cover pictures, please get in touch at french@lib.cam.ac.uk

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