Dominic Sandbrook
Encyclopedia
Dominic Sandbrookhttp://dominicsandbrook.com/wordpress/about/ is a British historian. Born in Bridgnorth
, Shropshire
, he was educated at Malvern College
and studied at Balliol College, Oxford
, the University of St Andrews
and Jesus College, Cambridge
.
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, and is now a freelance writer and newspaper columnist. In 2007 he was named one of Waterstone's
25 Authors for the Future.
Sandbrook's first book, a biography of the American
politician and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy
, proved extremely controversial on its release in the United States in 2004. The book was described by Louis Menand
in The New Yorker
as "intelligent and well written" but "unremittingly unsympathetic" toward its subject. McCarthy himself called the book "almost libellous".
In 2005, Sandbrook published Never Had It So Good, a history of Britain from the Suez Crisis
to the Beatles, 1956–1963. 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", while 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".
The sequel, White Heat, covering the years 1964–1970 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.". In November 2009, it was named by the Telegraph as "one of the books that defined the Noughties".
Unlike some previous historians of the 1960s, Sandbrook argues that the period was marked by strong 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
. This approach has not always endeared him to professional veterans of the period. The rock critic Charles Shaar Murray
, for example, called him "the Hoodie
historian ... throwing whatever passes for gang signs in the history department of the University of Sheffield
".
Sandbrook continued the history of post-war Britain with State of Emergency (2010) covering the period 1970–1974. A fourth and final book in the series will cover the remaining years of the 1970s up to the election of Margaret Thatcher
as Prime Minister in 1979.
Sandbrook has written articles and reviews which have appeared in the Daily Mail
, Sunday Times
, 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".
He currently lives in Chipping Norton
, Oxfordshire with his wife Catherine.
Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England, along the Severn Valley. It is split into Low Town and High Town, named on account of their elevations relative to the River Severn, which separates the upper town on the right bank from the lower on the left...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, he was educated at Malvern College
Malvern College
Malvern College is a coeducational independent school located on a 250 acre campus near the town centre of Malvern, Worcestershire in England. Founded on 25 January 1865, until 1992, the College was a secondary school for boys aged 13 to 18...
and studied at Balliol College, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
and Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
.
Previously a lecturer in history at the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
, he has been a senior fellow of the Rothermere American Institute
Rothermere American Institute
The Rothermere American Institute is an institution at the University of Oxford dedicated to the interdisciplinary and comparative study of the USA. It was opened in May 2001 by US President Bill Clinton and hosts regular conferences, lectures and seminars, particularly in the fields of American...
at Oxford University and a member of its history faculty, and is now a freelance writer and newspaper columnist. In 2007 he was named one of Waterstone's
Waterstone's
Waterstone's is a British book specialist established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone that employs around 4,500 staff throughout the United Kingdom and Europe....
25 Authors for the Future.
Sandbrook's first book, a biography of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy
Eugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
, proved extremely controversial on its release in the United States in 2004. The book was described by Louis Menand
Louis Menand
Louis Menand is an American writer and academic, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Metaphysical Club , an intellectual and cultural history of late 19th and early 20th century America....
in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
as "intelligent and well written" but "unremittingly unsympathetic" toward its subject. McCarthy himself called the book "almost libellous".
In 2005, Sandbrook published Never Had It So Good, a history of Britain from the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
to the Beatles, 1956–1963. It was described as a "rich treasure chest of a book" by Anthony Howard
Anthony Howard
Anthony Howard may refer to:* Anthony Howard , British journalist* Anthony Howard , British swimmer...
in the Daily Telegraph, who wrote of his "respect for the sweep and scope of the author's knowledge", while Nick Cohen
Nick Cohen
Nick Cohen is a British journalist, author and political commentator. He is currently a columnist for The Observer, a blogger for The Spectator and TV critic for Standpoint magazine. He formerly wrote for the London Evening Standard and the New Statesman...
wrote in the Observer
Observer
Observer may refer to person who is observing. More specialised meanings follow.-Computer science and information theory:*In information theory, any system which receives information from an object....
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".
The sequel, White Heat, covering the years 1964–1970 and the rise and fall of Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
'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
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. "He writes with authority and an eye for telling detail.". In November 2009, it was named by the Telegraph as "one of the books that defined the Noughties".
Unlike some previous historians of the 1960s, Sandbrook argues that the period was marked by strong conservatism and conformity. His books attempt to debunk what he sees as myths associated with the period, from the sexual revolution
Sexual revolution
The sexual revolution was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the 1960s into the 1980s...
to student protest
Student protest
Student protest encompasses a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academic issue and mobilization to communicate this dissatisfaction to the authorities and society in general and hopefully remedy the problem...
, and he challenges the "cultural revolution" thesis associated with historians like Arthur Marwick
Arthur Marwick
Arthur John Brereton Marwick was a professor in history. Born in Edinburgh, he was a graduate of Edinburgh University and Balliol College, Oxford. - Career :...
. This approach has not always endeared him to professional veterans of the period. The rock critic Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray is an English music journalist. His first experience in journalism came 1970 when he was asked to contribute to the satirical magazine Oz...
, for example, called him "the Hoodie
Hoodie
A hoodie is a sweatshirt with a hood. The characteristic design includes large frontal pockets, a hood, and a drawstring to adjust the hood opening. They are sometimes worn with sweatpants. Some hoodies have zippers on them to allow easy removal much like a jacket...
historian ... throwing whatever passes for gang signs in the history department of the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
".
Sandbrook continued the history of post-war Britain with State of Emergency (2010) covering the period 1970–1974. A fourth and final book in the series will cover the remaining years of the 1970s up to the election of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
as Prime Minister in 1979.
Sandbrook has written articles and reviews which have appeared in the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
, Sunday Telegraph
Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
, The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
and The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, and has appeared on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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
Miranda Sawyer
Miranda Sawyer is an English journalist and broadcaster.She grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. She has a degree in Jurisprudence from Pembroke College, Oxford...
as "very brilliant".
He currently lives in Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton is a market town in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about southwest of Banbury.-History until the 17th century:...
, Oxfordshire with his wife Catherine.
External links
- dominicsandbrook.com, Dominic Sandbrook's official website