Ebooks

The Office of the Historian offers ebook editions of a growing number of volumes from the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series. Far lighter and more portable than printed editions of FRUS, the ebook edition offers the full content of each volume and makes use of the full-text search and other reading features of most ebook devices and applications, including bookmarking and note-taking. Unlike the web-based edition of FRUS, the ebook edition, once downloaded, can be accessed even without internet connectivity.

These ebooks can be downloaded in a number of ways, either directly from this website or by using an ereader application that embeds our ebook catalog. For more information on reading our ebooks on your device, please see our FAQ below.

The Office of the Historian has worked to ensure that our ebooks are error-free and work on a broad range of devices. Please email history_ebooks@state.gov with any feedback.

The following 545 volumes are currently available:


































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































FAQ

Accessing Ebooks

  • Q: What e-reader devices and apps have FRUS ebooks been tested with?
  • A: We have tested FRUS ebooks on a range of devices and apps: iOS applications include iBooks, ShuBook, MegaReader, Kobo, Bluefire Reader, Subtext, and the Kindle app. Kindle devices include the Keyboard and Fire models. Android apps include Bluefire and Alkido. We encourage users of other devices and apps to report their experiences.
  • Q: How can I add a FRUS ebook to my device?
  • A: Until FRUS ebooks are available through commercial ebook retailers, there are two primary methods for adding a FRUS ebook to your device: (1) “Side-loading” an ebook from this website onto your device or (2) Using an application that embeds our catalog and lets you browse and download directly from the application. It is important to understand what methods and apps are available on your device.

“Side-loading” FRUS Ebooks

  • Q: How can I load “side-load” ebooks onto my device?
  • A: Consult the instructions provided by your app developer or device manufacturer to “side-load” the ebook file into your e-reader.
    • iBooks (Apple iOS): Select “Can I download books from other websites?” under “Managing your books and iBookstore content” from the iBooks: Frequently Asked Questions
    • Amazon Kindle: Search Kindle Support for “transferring” and select instructions specific to your device/app
    • Barnes & Noble Nook: Search Nook Support for “sideloading” and select instructions specific to your device/app

Embedding our Ebook Catalog in Apps

  • Q: How can I add the Office of the Historian’s ebook catalog to my favorite ebook app?
  • A: A growing number of apps support the OPDS standard, allowing these apps to embed the Office of the Historian’s ebook catalog and offer browsing, downloading, and reading within the application. The Office of the Historian’s ebook catalog URL (an OPDS API) is https://history.state.gov/api/v1/catalog. To add our catalog to your OPDS-compliant ebook application, consult the directions, and enter this URL where directed. We have tested ShuBook and MegaReader on iOS and the IbisReader web application. Please submit your feedback about these or other applications to history_ebooks@state.gov.
  • If you are a developer of ebook applications and would like to incorporate the Office of the Historian ebook catalog into your application, please see our Developer Resources page.

Citing FRUS EBooks

  • Q: Since ebooks do not have stable page numbers, how can I cite references to FRUS ebooks?
  • A: Use document numbers rather than page numbers. Document numbers are persistent, media-neutral identifiers. For example, to cite this memorandum from the SALT I, 1969-1972 volume, use:
    U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, Vol. XXXII, SALT I, 1969-1972 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2010), Doc. 262.
    rather than
    U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, Vol. XXXII, SALT I, 1969-1972 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2010), 774-781.

Known Issues

  • Issue: FRUS ebook footnote behavior on Kindle devices and the Kindle app.
  • Description: Footnotes are hyperlinked in FRUS ebooks so that activating a footnote reference will navigate directly to the text of the footnote (and vice versa). On Kindle devices and apps, activating the hyperlink from the footnote text back to the footnote reference in the document will navigate to the content immediately following the reference.
  • Issue: Indexes in pre-Johnson era FRUS refer to page numbers rather than document numbers
  • In creating the FRUS ebook edition, we endeavored to maintain fidelity with the original printed edition. Representing original page numbers from printed editions in ebooks has proved to be difficult. For readers who need to cite material in this ebook, we recommend citing document numbers instead of page numbers. Document numbers are persistent, media-neutral identifiers. Please note that since the indexes in older FRUS volumes refer to page numbers rather than document numbers, we have found certain indexes cannot be used “as is” in ebook versions and so have been omitted from the ebook edition of pre-Johnson administration volumes. Volumes from the Johnson administration onward, whose indexes reference document numbers, are unaffected by this issue.

Helpful Tips

  • Tip: Using bookmarks.
  • Description: Many e-readers allow users to set multiple bookmarks and navigate to them quickly from an easily-accessible list of all the assigned bookmarks in a given ebook. FRUS ebook users can take advantage of this feature to place bookmarks on frequently-used resources, like the Persons, Source, and/or the Terms and Abbreviations lists that are located at the beginning of each volume. Many e-readers also allow you to jump back to a previous location, making it easy to take advantage of the information in a FRUS ebook’s front matter without losing your place in the volume.
  • Tip: Using the table of contents.
  • Description: In addition to a hyperlinked version of the table of contents listing chapters in the compilation that appears in the beginning pages of a printed FRUS volume, FRUS ebooks provide users with richly detailed lists of individual documents and their source notes at the beginning of each chapter and in the general table of contents accessible via the e-reader’s table of contents feature.
  • Tip: Using full-text search.
  • Description: Like the volumes accessible on history.state.gov, FRUS ebooks are fully text-searchable. The features and behavior of the search engine depends on your e-reader device/app.

Providing Feedback or Other Questions

  • Q: How can I provide feedback or ask a question not answered here?
  • A: We welcome your feedback or other questions not answered here. Please contact us at history_ebooks@state.gov.