IWM is celebrating the 1 millionth photograph digitised by its mass preservation project, Digital Futures.

No account of the history of post-war migration and the making of modern Britain would today omit the Windrush.  Yet that was not always the case, writes Sunder Katwala, Director of British Future.

CDP student Ella Roberts discusses how the BBC played a key role in reporting the events of the Trouble to audiences in Northern Ireland, Britain and beyond.

IWM Film Curator Michelle Kirby reflects on one of the most memorable films produced by United Nations Television in the mid-1990s, that uncovers the transformative force of music and friendship. She reveals how a single email, serendipitously received from someone who originally appeared in the film over 25 years ago, has deepened her understanding of this powerful footage.

Dr Catherine Baker explores the UNTV project from Peace and Conflict Studies.

Roy Head reflects on his time as the former head of UNTV.

IWM Curator Simon Offord reflects on IWM’s Forced to Flee Exhibition and the use of first-person accounts.

What was it like for British troops involved in the seaborne landings to retake the Falklands Islands? John Beales, an AHRC funded PhD researcher at Keele University and IWM, shares some of his research.

The most distinctive films in UNTV’s collection are the ‘video letters’. As well as the many informational features that this incarnation of the UNPROFOR television unit made between May 1994 and January 1996, and a small number of interviews with UNPROFOR leaders and ‘vox pops’ with the local public also filmed for early UNTV packages, UNTV made at least 90 of these films.

IWM’s Sound Archive is a remarkably rich source, comprising over 33,000 recordings relating to conflict since 1914. But oral histories need careful treatment as historical sources. This is exemplified in the IWM interviews that deal with Britain’s late-colonial conflicts: Aden, Malaya and, the subject of my own studies, the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, which lasted from 1952 to 1960.

How do we make history come alive? For some of us, online records and archival research can provide fascinating insights into past lives. For others, photographs, films and objects may trigger thoughts and emotions in a way that official records fail to do. Fortunately for us, institutions such as Imperial War Museums (IWM) bring together a wide range of approaches to understanding the past.

Have you ever visited a museum gallery or art exhibition and wondered how it all came together? Do you walk around thinking about object mounting, text styles and the location of caption panels? Are you looking out for the environmental monitors, spotting colour themes and considering how an object that big got into that space? If it’s a no, good job, you probably aren’t a museum professional and will enjoy the exhibition far more as a result!