Published annually since 1972, the Historic Documents series has made primary source research easy by presenting excerpts from documents on the important events of each year for the United States and the World. Each volume pairs original background narratives with well over 100 documents to chronicle the major events of the year, from official reports and surveys to speeches from leaders and opinion makers, to court cases, legislation, testimony, and much more.

Historic Documents is renowned for the well-written and informative background, history, and context it provides for each document. Each volume begins with an insightful essay that sets the year’s events in context, and each document or group of documents is preceded by a comprehensive introduction that provides background information on the event. Full-source citations are provided. Readers have easy access to material through a detailed, thematic table of contents, and each event includes references to related coverage and documents from the last ten editions of the series.

Events covered in the 2018 Edition include:


Historic U.S. and South Korean diplomatic advances with North Korea
Investigation of Russian influence in U.S. elections
Chinese constitutional changes granting presidential terms for life
March for Our Lives and gun control demonstrations
Changes to U.S. immigration and trade policies
Legalization of marijuana in Canada
Resignation of Australian prime minister
Pope declares death penalty inadmissible

Volumes in this series dating back to 1972 are available as online editions on SAGE Knowledge.