Speaker: Daniel Todman

Topic: Britain’s Second World War in Three Graphs, One Map and Four Songs

Venue: Vinson Lecture Theatre

Time: 15:30-16:30 Friday 13 September

Talk Summary:

How on earth can we hope to grasp something as immense, complex and significant as the Second World War and the effect it had on Britain and its Empire? By using eight different pieces of evidence to connect together the global military, social, and political histories of Britain at war. The result is a total history of a total war, told with ideas, numbers and song lyrics that will stick in the brain, and make you think not only about the war, but about how we communicate stories about the past.

Daniel Todman a historian of war and its remembrance, specialising in the history of Britain and the British Commonwealth and Empire during the two world wars. He is Professor of History at Queen Mary University of London, and has taught at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. His Britain’s War: Into Battle, 1937-41 was shortlisted for the Longman History Today Prize 2016. He was a member of the academic advisory panel for the Imperial War Museum’s redesign of its First World War galleries, and he now sits on the equivalent body for the Museum’s Second World War gallery. He chaired the historical advisory panel for the programme of schools centenary tours to the Western Front run by the Institute of Education, and advised the BBC on the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of D-Day. His latest book is Britain’s War: A New World, 1942-1947 (Allen Lane).