Collection consists of pamphlets published by the Canadian government and other organizations during the Cold War, mostly concerning the threat of nuclear war. Pamphlets were published by the Government of Canada, Combined Universities Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and others. The collection is arranged into five series, and subjects include civil defence, the anti-nuclear movement, nuclear war, survival planning, communist threats, and Canadian Army training. Other items discuss radioactive fallout, rescue operations, and first aid.

Collection consists of pamphlets published by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and other organizations in the British anti-nuclear movement during the Cold War. The pamphlets were published to encourage activism related to nuclear disarmament, and to inform the public on related issues including the arms race, civil defence, government policy, and the threat and effects of nuclear war. The collection contains one series of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament publications, and also contains other pamphlets published by the Communist Party of Great Britain, Scientists Against Nuclear Arms, and others.

Fonds mostly consists of propaganda leaflets dropped from Allied and German aircraft during World War II, and it also contains a few American leaflets from the Vietnam War and Gulf War. The leaflets targeted enemy combatants, munition workers, and civilians and were designed to undermine morale, persuade their readers to surrender or stop fighting/working, or provide access to censored war news.

Fonds illustrates the military service of two members of the Purdy family; Gordon Purdy and his son Douglas Gordon Purdy. Fonds consists of military medals from World War I and World War II, a book about the battle of Dieppe, and reproductions of photographs and military records.

Fonds illustrates the military service of Douglass Smith Kirkwood, a former student of Mount Royal College, in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Fonds contains a university diploma, photocopies of military paperwork, and research about Kirkwood's military service.