How We Use Cookies and Similar Technologies

This page explains how Modern History Library and, where applicable, third-party services may store and access information on your device when you visit our catalogue. We use cookies and similar technologies for several purposes, as described below.

Essential Storage

Certain cookies are strictly necessary for the basic operation of the site. These may include session cookies that enable you to navigate between pages, maintain your reading preferences during a single visit, and access secure areas. Without these cookies, some features of the catalogue may not function correctly. Essential cookies do not require your prior consent.

Preference and Functionality Cookies

We may use cookies to remember choices you make, such as your preferred text size, display settings, or the last category you browsed (for example, Revolutions or Modern Nations). These cookies improve your experience by tailoring the interface to your preferences. Where enabled, they are typically persistent but remain on your device only as long as you wish.

Analytics

Where analytics are enabled, we may use first-party cookies or local storage to collect aggregated, anonymised information about how visitors use the catalogue. This helps us understand which sections—such as Social History or World Events—are most popular, and how users navigate between editions like Hardtack and coffee or The Russian Advance. Analytics data does not identify you personally, and we do not share raw analytics data with third parties except as necessary to operate the service.

Advertising Technologies

If advertising is displayed on this site, Google may use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your previous visits to this or other websites. These third-party cookies enable Google and its partners to tailor advertisements to your interests. You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. Please note that disabling personalised advertising does not prevent all advertisements; you may still see generic ads that are not based on your interests.

First-Party and Third-Party Cookies

First-party cookies are set by the domain you are visiting (hicde.com). Third-party cookies are set by domains other than hicde.com, such as Google’s advertising or analytics services. We do not control the data practices of these third parties, and their use of cookies is governed by their own privacy policies.

Session and Persistent Cookies

Session cookies are temporary and are deleted when you close your browser. Persistent cookies remain on your device for a period determined by the cookie’s expiration setting, or until you manually delete them. We do not specify fixed durations here because they may vary depending on the technology used.

Local Storage

In addition to cookies, we may use local storage (such as HTML5 localStorage) to store data on your device for similar purposes, including preferences and temporary reading progress. Local storage is not automatically cleared when you close your browser.

Your Choices and Withdrawal of Consent

For non-essential cookies (preferences, analytics, advertising), we seek your consent before placing them on your device. You can withdraw your consent at any time by adjusting your cookie settings through the consent management tool available on the site. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

Browser Controls

Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can typically block or delete cookies, or set your browser to alert you when a cookie is placed. However, if you disable all cookies, some parts of the catalogue may become inaccessible or may not function as intended. For example, you may need to re-enter preferences each time you visit.

Practical Effects of Disabling Storage

Disabling cookies or local storage may affect your ability to use features such as remembering your preferred category, maintaining a continuous reading session across pages, or seeing advertisements that are relevant to you. Essential functions, such as page navigation and access to ebooks, will continue to work, but some personalised aspects will be lost.

If you have questions about our use of cookies, please contact our editorial office at [email protected].