Speaker: Peter Moore

Topic: Britain and the American Dream

Venue: Ondaatje Lecture Theatre, Radcliffe Centre

Time: 10:30-11:30 Saturday 16 September

Talk Summary:

With a particular focus on the life of Benjamin Franklin, as well as figures such as Samuel Johnson, the historian Catharine Macaulay, the firebrand politician John Wilkes and revolutionary activist Thomas Paine, Peter Moore looks at the generation that preceded the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. He takes us back to a vital moment in the foundation of what would become the West, a time full of intent, confidence and ideas, to tells a whole new – and surprising – story about the birth of the United States of America.