The David Nicholls Memorial Library, based on the private collection of Britain’s foremost Haiti expert, comprises some 4,000 volumes. The majority of the texts deal specifically with Haiti, the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean societies, in addition to David’s collection of theological, sociological and political works.
Particularly strong is the section on Haitian politics, society and culture – areas which David Nicholls explored in several important books. The collection houses key theological and political science texts that were important to David’s own work. New accessions are added regularly, especially in the Caribbean section.
Researchers are welcome to consult books and pamphlets, many of which are simply unavailable elsewhere. The Library is open to all interested students and researchers by appointment only. Please contact the College Librarian library@regents.ox.ac.uk for information.
The Library collection is catalogued and available on-line using the Oxford University Libraries catalogue SOLO. 
Borrowing is not generally allowed, but photocopying facilities are available on request.
"David Nicholls was a rare phenomenon in today’s world of professional pigeon-holing: a writer of important and influential academic works who never held a mainstream academic post, a theologian whom the Church of England found it difficult to accommodate." – David Nicholls Memorial Trust.
David Gwyn Nicholls (1936–1996) was an English Anglican priest, theologian, and Caribbean studies scholar who authored more than one hundred publications in the fields of political theology and Caribbean studies.
David Nicholls was perhaps best known among Caribbean researchers for his internationally acclaimed works on Haiti: From Dessalines to Duvalier: Race, Colour and National Independence (1979, 1988, 1996); Economic Dependence and Political Autonomy: The Haitian Experience (1974) and Haiti in the Caribbean Context: Ethnicity, Economy and Revolt (1985). These volumes are all available in the David Nicholls Memorial Collection.
As a political scientist, David Nicholls had a distinguished career, influencing scholars such as Bernard Crick and Paul Hirst. His books on the theories of state, democracy and power are acknowledged classics: Three Varieties of Pluralism (1974) and The Pluralist State (1994) He was also the general editor of the nine volume Faith and the Future (1983) series and produced challenging theological works: Deity and Domination: Images of God and the State in the 19th and 20th Centuries (1989) and God and Government in an Age of Reason (1995). [again both of these are available in the David Nicholls Memorial Collection]
For more information about David Nicholls and his work, please visit the David Nicholls Memorial Trust website.