--- title: Primary texts url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ description: 'Full texts of primary sources the archive cites: books, speeches and official reports that are in the public domain or openly licensed, each with its…' section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg) Library # Primary texts Full texts of the books, speeches and reports the archive cites, shown as they were published so you can read the source, not only a summary of it. - [![Title page of The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, T. Fisher Unwin, London](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lebon-the-crowd/thumb.jpg)Book · 1896The Crowd: A Study of the Popular MindGustave Le BonFrance · 14 chapters · 53,291 wordsContent note](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lebon-the-crowd/) - [![Title page of Public Opinion by Walter Lippmann, Harcourt, Brace and Company](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-public-opinion/thumb.jpg)Book · 1922Public OpinionWalter LippmannUnited States · 28 chapters · 103,570 words](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-public-opinion/) - [![The author's name and title, Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, in the type of the 1943 title page](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/thumb.jpg)Book · 1925–1926Mein Kampf (German)Adolf HitlerGermany · 30 chapters · 217,662 wordsContent note](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/) - [![Title page of Falsehood in War-Time by Arthur Ponsonby, George Allen & Unwin](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/thumb.jpg)Book · 1928Falsehood in War-TimeArthur PonsonbyUnited Kingdom · 32 chapters · 45,322 wordsContent note](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/) - [![Title page of Propaganda by Edward L. Bernays, Horace Liveright, 1928](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/bernays-propaganda/thumb.jpg)Book · 1928PropagandaEdward L. BernaysUnited States · 11 chapters · 33,126 words](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/bernays-propaganda/) - [![President Wilson addressing a joint session of Congress, 1917](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/wilson-war-message-1917/thumb.jpg)Speech · April 2, 1917War Message to Congress, April 2, 1917Woodrow WilsonUnited States · 3,671 words](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/wilson-war-message-1917/) - [![First page of President Roosevelt's typed address to Congress, December 8, 1941, with his corrections](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/fdr-day-of-infamy-1941/thumb.jpg)Speech · December 8, 1941"Day of Infamy" Address to Congress, December 8, 1941Franklin D. RooseveltUnited States · 514 words](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/fdr-day-of-infamy-1941/) - [![Opening lines of President-elect Kennedy's handwritten draft of his inaugural address, January 17, 1961](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/kennedy-inaugural-1961/thumb.jpg)Speech · January 20, 1961Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961John F. KennedyUnited States · 1,340 words](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/kennedy-inaugural-1961/) - [![Vladimir Putin speaking at the Munich Conference on Security Policy, February 10, 2007](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/putin-munich-2007/thumb.jpg)Speech · February 10, 2007Munich Security Conference Speech, February 10, 2007Vladimir PutinRussia · 8,784 words](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/putin-munich-2007/) - [![Title page of the Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages, 1915](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/bryce-report-german-outrages-1915/thumb.jpg)Report · 1915The Bryce Report on Alleged German OutragesCommittee on Alleged German Outrages (chair: Viscount Bryce)United Kingdom · 5 chapters · 29,069 wordsContent note](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/bryce-report-german-outrages-1915/) - [![Cover of the 1918 pamphlet A Letter to American Workingmen, Socialist Publication Society](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lenin-letter-to-american-workingmen/thumb.jpg)Letter · 1918A Letter to American WorkingmenV. I. LeninSoviet Russia · 4,250 words](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lenin-letter-to-american-workingmen/) ## What is here Books, speeches, letters and reports that the archive's write-ups cite, from every side and era it covers. Each one is complete, with the edition it comes from, where the text was obtained, why it may be hosted, and every change made to it. Each page links to the write-ups that cite the text, and those write-ups link back. Hosting a text is not endorsing it: the library holds texts from every side, including hateful ones, shown as they were with a content note. ## What gets hosted Only works that are in the public domain or that carry an open licence the source states. That includes older books, speeches and documents of the United States government, and a few texts under a Creative Commons licence. A work that may still be protected is not hosted; the write-ups that cite it link to a library or publisher copy instead. The library is served from the United States, and a text that is public domain there may still be protected elsewhere, so readers outside the United States should check their own law. ## What is changed Nothing in the wording. Line wraps are rejoined, headings are set in title case, and the source's boilerplate is removed (a licence header, a publisher's advertisements, page numbers and running heads on scanned books). Three texts are machine-read from scans and have not been proofread, and they say so; their recognition errors are the scan's. Where a text is shown as it was, including offensive or distressing material, a short content note says what is coming and the text is otherwise untouched, the same rule the collection follows. ## Known gaps The first texts lean towards the United States and Britain, because works from those countries are more often in the public domain. Germany is represented by one text, and it comes from a later printing rather than the first edition, which its page says. Texts from the Soviet Union, China and other countries are added as their rights are cleared, and the library says so rather than hiding the gap. ## Thumbnails Each text carries a thumbnail that is a real object: the title page or cover of the edition, a photograph, or a page of the document. Every one is public domain or openly licensed, is credited with its source and rights on the work's page, and says whether it was cropped. Where no such image can be cleared, a page falls back to an illustration labelled as one. ## Reading and citing Long books are split into chapters, with a chapter list beside the text. Every text can be downloaded as plain text with its provenance in a header. When you cite a text, cite the edition named on its page, not this site.