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Dominic Sandbrook

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Dominic Sandbrook
Sandbrook in 2021
Born (1974-10-02) 2 October 1974 (age 50)
Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Author
  • historian
  • podcaster
  • radio and television presenter
Spouse
Catherine Morley
​
(m. 2007)​
Websitedominicsandbrook.com

Dominic Christopher Sandbrook, FRHistS (born 2 October 1974) is a British historian, author, columnist and television presenter.[1][2] He co-hosts The Rest is History podcast with author Tom Holland.

Early life and academic career

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Sandbrook was born on 2 October 1974 in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.[3][4] He was educated at Malvern College, then an all-boys independent school in Worcestershire.[5][6] He studied history and French at Balliol College, Oxford. He then studied for a Master of Letters (MLitt) degree in history at the University of St Andrews and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at Jesus College, Cambridge.[7][8] His doctoral thesis was titled "The political career of Senator Eugene McCarthy" and was completed in 2002.[9]

Previously a lecturer in history at the University of Sheffield, he has been a senior fellow of the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University and a member of its history faculty. Sandbrook was a visiting professor at King's College London,[10] and a freelance writer and newspaper columnist. In 2007 he was named one of Waterstone's 25 Authors for the Future. In July 2021, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS).[8]

Writing career

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Sandbrook's first book, a biography of the US presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, proved controversial on its publication in the United States in 2004. Writing for H-Net, a forum for scholars in the humanities and social sciences, David Stebenne said it "describes McCarthy's life and work with outstanding grace and clarity", and was "a very fine study of a significant figure that serious students of American postwar history will want to consult."[11] McCarthy himself called the book "almost libellous".[12]

In 2005, Sandbrook published Never Had It So Good, a history of Britain from the Suez Crisis to the Beatles, 1956–63. It was described as a "rich treasure chest of a book" by Anthony Howard in The Daily Telegraph, who wrote of his "respect for the sweep and scope of the author's knowledge".[13] Nick Cohen wrote in The Observer that it was "a tribute to Sandbrook's literary skill that his scholarship is never oppressive. Alternately delightful and enlightening, he has produced a book which must have been an enormous labour to write but is a treat to read".[14][15] Richard Gott was more sparing in his praise: "Sandbrook does his best, but he lacks the literary talent to cover such a wide canvas and keep the reader awake."[16]

The sequel, White Heat, covering the years 1964–70 and the rise and fall of Harold Wilson's Labour government, was published in August 2006. "Sandbrook's book could hardly be more impressive in its scope", wrote Leo McKinstry in The Times. "He writes with authority and an eye for telling detail."[17] In November 2009, it was named by the Telegraph as "one of the books that defined the Noughties".[18] James Buchan observed, "For all the charm of Dominic Sandbrook's book, with its minute anatomy of social forms and brilliant parade of charlatans and fools, it is hard not to feel that somehow time has not been well used."[19] Unlike some historians of the 1960s, Sandbrook argues it was marked by conservatism and conformity. His books attempt to debunk what he sees as myths associated with the period, from the sexual revolution to student protest, and he challenges the "cultural revolution" thesis associated with historians like Arthur Marwick. Charles Shaar Murray, writing in The Independent, called Sandbrook "the Hoodie Historian" and imagined him "slouching into shot while throwing whatever passes for gang signs in the history department of the University of Sheffield, and announcing to Arthur Marwick, Jonathon Green et al. that 'You is all mi bitches nuh.'"[20]

Sandbrook continued the history of postwar Britain with State of Emergency (2010), covering the period 1970–74,[21] and Seasons in the Sun, which took the story up to the election of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in 1979. A fifth volume, Who Dares Wins, covering the period 1979–1982, was published in October 2019.[22] Anthony Quinn, reviewing for The Observer, described it as a "long, painstaking and pretty enjoyable haul through Britain in the first three years of the Thatcher government ... ungratifyingly even-handed in his portrait of [Thatcher], alive to the flaws in her character and sharp in confounding the popular myths."[23] For The Sunday Times, Piers Brendon said it was "a rich mixture of political narrative and social reportage ... scholarly, accessible, well written, witty and incisive."[24]

In 2011, before he had finished his book series about Britain, Sandbrook published a Mad as Hell about American populism in the 1970s, discussing cultural influences such as disco, the Ford and Carter presidencies, Bruce Springsteen, and the Dallas Cowboys.[25] In The Wall Street Journal, Michael C. Moynihan identified several sentences fragments that had been closely paraphrased from sources which he considered plagiarism.[26] Moynihan later said he was surprised Sandbrook had not suffered serious career repercussions.[27][28] Sandbrook rejected the allegations and maintained that he "footnoted his sources, and if popular history books sometimes sound familiar that is because there are only so many ways to say things."[28]

Sandbrook has written articles and reviews for the Daily Mail, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Observer and The Daily Telegraph and has appeared on BBC radio and television. His Radio Four series SlapDash Britain, charting the rise and fall of British governance since the Second World War, was described by the radio critic Miranda Sawyer as "very brilliant".[29]

Television and radio

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Year Title Broadcaster Notes
2009 Archive on 4: "The Anniversary Anniversary" Radio 4 An examination of people's obsessions with anniversaries[30]
2009 Archive on 4: "Pinter On Air" Radio 4 Discussing the role of television and radio dramas in establishing Harold Pinter's reputation[30]
2010 SlapDash Britain Radio 4 A 2-part series examining bureaucracy and incompetence in British government since the 1950s[31]
2010 Archive on 4: "A Working-class Tory Is Something To Be" Radio 4 With David Davis. An exploration of the history of British working-class Conservatives[30]
2011 Archive on 4: "Mind Your PMQs" Radio 4 The history and role of Prime Minister's Questions[30]
2011 The People's Post: A Narrative History of the Post Office Radio 4 A 15-part series examining the history of the Royal Mail[32]
2012 Archive on 4: "Tuning in" Radio 4 The history of British radio entertainment[30]
2012 The 70s BBC Two A 4-part history of Britain during the 1970s[33]
2013 Das Auto: The Germans, Their Cars and Us BBC Two The ascendence of the post-war automotive industry in Germany[34]
2013 Strange Days: Cold War Britain BBC Two A history of Britain during the Cold War[35]
2014 Learning to Listen Radio 4 The development of radio listening habits through the 1920s and 1930s[36]
2014 Tomorrow's Worlds: The Unearthly History of Science Fiction BBC Two A 4-part history of science fiction[37]
2014 Archive on 4: "The Eccentric Entrepreneur" Radio 4 The life of Captain Leonard Plugge[30]
2015 Let Us Entertain You BBC Two A 4-part history of British post-war culture[38]
2015 Archive on 4: "The Future of the BBC: A History" Radio 4 A history of the BBC and how it may need to change to survive[30]
2016 The 80s with Dominic Sandbrook BBC Two A 3-part history of Britain during the 1980s[39]
2016 Future Tense – The Story of H.G. Wells BBC One Examines how H. G. Wells's lower-middle class upbringing in the suburban counties of South East England influenced his early science fiction writing.[40]

Podcast

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Since 2020, Sandbrook has co-presented a podcast with historian Tom Holland called The Rest is History.[41]

Bibliography

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  • Eugene McCarthy: The Rise and Fall of Postwar American Liberalism. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 2004. ISBN 978-1-400-04105-3. OCLC 53831429.
  • Never Had It So Good: A History of Britain from Suez to the Beatles. London: Little, Brown. 2005. ISBN 978-0-316-86083-3. OCLC 57355011.
  • White Heat: A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties. London: Little, Brown. 2006. ISBN 978-0-316-72452-4. OCLC 475427807.
  • State of Emergency: The Way We Were: Britain, 1970–1974. London: Allen Lane. 2010. ISBN 978-1-846-14031-0. OCLC 762352562.
  • Mad As Hell: The Crisis of the 1970s and the Rise of the Populist Right. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 2011. ISBN 978-1-400-04262-3. OCLC 711985081.
  • Seasons in the Sun: The Battle for Britain, 1974–1979. London: Allen Lane. 2012. ISBN 978-1-846-14032-7. OCLC 823589868.
  • The Great British Dream Factory: The Strange History of Our National Imagination. London: Allen Lane. 2015. ISBN 978-0-241-00465-4. OCLC 928387209.
  • Who Dares Wins: Britain, 1979–1982. London: Allen Lane. 2019. ISBN 978-1-846-14737-1. OCLC 1123871965.

References

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  1. ^ Walker, Tim (8 August 2012). "Popular historian Dominic Sandbrook: 'I'm no plagiarist'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  2. ^ Campelli, Matthew (5 November 2015). "Dominic Sandbrook entertains 800k". Broadcast. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Seasons in the Sun". Penguin Books. 2013. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  4. ^ "About me". dominicsandbrook.com. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  5. ^ "The Malvern Experience 11–31 July 2010". Malvern College. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2015 – via Wayback Machine.
  6. ^ "The week ahead". Wellington College. 24 September 2010. Archived from the original on 24 September 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2015 – via Wayback Machine.
  7. ^ "About". Dominicsandbrook.com. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Newsletter" (PDF). Royal Historical Society. November 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  9. ^ Sandbrook, Dominic Christopher (2002). The political career of Senator Eugene McCarthy (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  10. ^ "King's College London". dominicsandbrook.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2015 – via Wayback Machine.
  11. ^ Stebenne, David (August 2005). "Famous for Fifteen Minutes". H-Net. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Former Sen. McCarthy blasts biographer". The Hill. Washington, D.C. 18 February 2004. Archived from the original on 9 June 2004. Retrieved 1 December 2015 – via Wayback Machine.
  13. ^ Howard, Anthony (1 May 2005). "The actor-manager's greatest production". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  14. ^ Cohen, Nick (1 May 2005). "The 60s? They began in '56". The Observer. London. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  15. ^ See also Henrik Bering, "Taking the great out of Britain." Policy Review, no. 133, 2005, p. 88+. online
  16. ^ Gott, Richard (7 May 2005). "Supermac and CND". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  17. ^ McKinstry, Leo (5 August 2006). "Which decade really swung?". The Times. London.
  18. ^ MacArthur, Brian (13 November 2009). "100 books that defined the noughties". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  19. ^ Buchan, James (23 September 2006). "Carry on governing". The Guardian.
  20. ^ Murray, Charles Shaar (11 August 2006). "Children of the revolution?". The Independent. London. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  21. ^ Montefiore, Simon Sebag (10 October 2010). "State of Emergency by Dominic Sandbrook: review". The Sunday Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  22. ^ Sandbrook, Dominic. "Who Dares Wins". www.penguin.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  23. ^ Quinn, Anthony (30 September 2019). "Who Dares Wins: Britain, 1979–1982 by Dominic Sandbrook – review". The Observer. London. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  24. ^ Brendon, Piers (22 September 2019). "Who Dares Wins by Dominic Sandbrook review — how Thatcher led to Brexit". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  25. ^ Garner, Dwight (15 February 2011). "Carter, Reagan and Freaky Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  26. ^ Moynihan, Michael C. (12 February 2011). "When the Tea Party Began". The Wall Street Journal. New York City. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  27. ^ Kamer, Foster (30 July 2012). "Q & A: Michael C. Moynihan, The Guy Who Uncovered Jonah Lehrer's Fabrication Problem". The New York Observer. New York City. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  28. ^ a b O'Neill, Brendan (8 August 2012). "The US journalist who exposed Jonah Lehrer wonders why his criticisms of Dominic Sandbrook were ignored". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 August 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  29. ^ Sawyer, Miranda (20 June 2010). "Nicky Campbell; SlapDash Britain; Jeremy Vine". The Observer. London. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g "Archive On 4". RadioListings. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  31. ^ "SlapDash Britain". BBC. 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  32. ^ "The People's Post: A Narrative History of the Post Office". Radio 4. 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  33. ^ "The 70s". BBC. 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  34. ^ "Das Auto: The Germans, Their Cars and Us". BBC. 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  35. ^ "Strange Days: Cold War Britain". BBC. 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  36. ^ "Learning to Listen". BBC. 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  37. ^ "Tomorrow's Worlds: The Unearthly History of Science Fiction". BBC. 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  38. ^ "Dominic Sandbrook: Let Us Entertain You". BBC. 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  39. ^ "The 80s with Dominic Sandbrook". BBC. 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  40. ^ "Future Tense – The Story of H.G. Wells". BBC. 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  41. ^ Cunliffe, Rachel (20 April 2022). "The Rest is History is breathtaking in its scope". New Statesman. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
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