Naval Intelligence Handbooks

The British Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series was produced between 1941 and 1946. At 31 titles, encompassing 58 volumes, this is the largest single body of geographical writing ever published. The books were written to provide information for the Allied war effort. They were written by academics in two teams, one based in Cambridge and the other at Oxford. As lives depended on the information presented in the Handbooks, speed of production and accuracy of content were paramount. After the war, many of these handbooks were re-published, in modified form, as textbooks.

The Geographical Section of the Naval Intelligence Division, Naval Staff, Admiralty, also produced a series of Handbooks from 1917 to 1922 covering the same Geographical topics as World War II series above. They are listed below;

Although entitled Naval Intelligence Handbooks, the Handbooks were intended for use by all of the British Armed Forces, and covered whole countries, not just the coastal regions. Topics included relief, coasts, climate, peopling, history, administration, population geography (trends and migration), economic geography and transport geography. Additional information, such as vegetation zones and medical notes, was provided in appendices.

(30 volumes produced at Cambridge; 28 at Oxford. All were published by HMSO in London)

World War I series (all published by HMSO);

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