About Truth Atlas

Truth Atlas is an independent reference to programmes, operations and events where the public record is either secret, contested or managed after the fact. It exists because the same names, places and methods keep reappearing across cases that are usually read in isolation.

What it does

Each record in the atlas is one claim about power. It carries a summary, a date range, a location, an evidence status, the competing accounts of what happened, and — where possible — sources. Records are linked to each other where the same people, the same places or the same method recur.

The result is meant to be read the way an encyclopaedia is read: a page at a time, following links. The connections page shows where the graph is dense, which is usually where the interesting material is.

What it is not

It is not a place where claims are accepted because they are satisfying. A record's status describes the evidence, not the moral quality of the actors. Documented programmes sit next to debunked ones, and the difference between them is stated plainly on every page.

The atlas does not name living people as guilty of wrongdoing that no court or inquiry has found. Where such a claim is recorded, it is written as a claim, attributed, and marked accordingly.

How it is built

Records are written from declassified files, inquiry reports, court documents, contemporaneous journalism and secondary histories. Where the only accessible source is a reference work, the record says so. The methodology page explains the statuses, the evidence meter and the link types in detail.

Corrections

If a record is wrong, the fastest way to change it is to send the document that shows it. Contact us with the record number in the subject line.