Historical Peace Researchers Now Online

Peace Researcher is the journal of the Anti-Bases Campaign. Heartfelt thanks are owed to ABC committee member Lynda Boyd, who has laboured long and hard to upload a complete set of historical issues of Peace Researchers, covering the years 1983-2000 inclusive (PR went online in 2001 and issues from that year onwards can be read at http://www.converge.org.nz/abc/prfront.html, which is part of the Anti-Bases Campaign Website www.converge.org.nz/abc).

To access these oldies but goodies, click on: www.historicalpeaceresearcher.blogspot.com.

The introduction includes instructions on how to use the site. One thing to bear in mind is that each old issue is a big document (even though we had the scans reduced in size), so be patient when waiting for the individual issues to download. One bonus is that, unlike the issues online at the actual PR site, these old ones come complete with illustrations. Readability quality varies, affected both by the scans having to be reduced to make the individual issues a manageable size, and their sheer age (the very first three issues were A4 sheets folded in half, to make an A5 newsletter, which causes those online versions to look a bit odd ). A total of 54 historic issues are online at this new site.

This is actually the second series of PR, the first one of 34 issues spanned 1983-93 inclusive; this one started in 1994. Now that the whole set has been uploaded, it can be seen as a testament to the wonderful work of Bob Leonard, who was Co-Editor from 1983-2002 inclusive. Throughout those 20 years there were a number of other Co-Editors – Keith Burgess, Dennis Small, Warren Thomson and myself – working with Bob. I have been the Editor since 2003 (Bob is still very much involved, as a writer). A perusal of the full set shows just what a wealth of information and analysis has been published in PR for nearly 30 years.

And if you want to go further back, into the predecessors of both ABC and PR, then I refer you to http://www.historicalwatchdog.blogspot.com/, the site set up for historic issues of Foreign Control Watchdog. This was also set up by Lynda Boyd, who is on the committee of the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA). That site contains more than 100 issues of Watchdog, spanning 1974-99 inclusive – issues since 1999 are available at www.converge.org.nz/watchdog - and is full of material about the early anti-bases campaign (many years before there was an actual Anti-Bases Campaign). Taken together, these sites of historic PRs and Watchdogs are a treasure trove. Enjoy!

Murray Horton
Editor, Peace Researcher

ENDS

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