Staff
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Professional Background
I began my academic career at La Trobe University as a sessional tutor in 1983 while working on my Ph.D. thesis, which I completed in 1989. I have since worked in the Centre for Learning and Teaching at the University of Technology, Sydney; and in the History Department, Faculty of Arts at the Australian National University, before coming to UNSW@ADFA in 1999.
Courses Taught
I have taught numerous courses on British, Irish, European and World History, concentrating mainly on the period since the 1780s. I have also taught courses on historiography.
Research Interests / Projects
My research interests are in modern British and Irish history; nationalism and national identity; the history of money and economic history more broadly; and the history of political ideas.
My current research is towards a book on money, finance and national identity in the British Isles since 1603. I am particularly interested in the ways in which British people’s sense of their country’s financial strength and monetary stability have become entwined with their sense of national self-worth, and why, therefore, their proposed adoption of the Euro has become an emotive and bitterly divisive issue. I have published a number of articles and delivered numerous conference papers on various aspects of this topic. This work forms part of a broader interest in the production and transmission of popular ideas about finance and economics, and their political, cultural and social consequences.
My previous research has been on the non-communist left in Britain since the late 19th century, with a special focus on the theoretical and cultural affinities between leftists of different persuasions. As well as a book, The Popular Front and the Progressive Tradition: Liberals, Socialists and the Quest for Unity 1884-1939 (Cambridge, 1992), I have also published articles on the Guild Socialist movement, reflecting my broader interest in the history of political ideas.
Consulting / Professional Activities
I have been editor of the AHA Bulletin (the professional journal of the Australian Historical Association) and a member of the executive of the AHA. I have given numerous interviews on ABC radio on topical aspects of British and Irish history, and professional development seminars on aspects of the Northern Ireland conflict. I have also served on the ACT schools history curriculum accreditation panel, and on a wide range of administrative and policy committees at ANU and UNSW@ADFA.
Publications
My main publications include:
The Popular Front and the Progressive Tradition: socialists, liberals and the quest for unity, 1884-1939. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992.
‘Globalization, Markets and Historiographical Perspective’, Journal of Contemporary History 42, 3, pp. 505-514. (2007)
‘“Not only Patriotism but Self-Interest”: War, Money and Finance in British Public Discourse 1914-1925’, War and Society, 23, Special Issue, pp. 1-12. (2005)
‘Finance and the End of Appeasement: the Bank of England, the National Government and the Czech gold’, Journal of Contemporary History 40, 1, pp. 25-39. (2005)
‘Sterling Identities’ History Today, January 2002
‘Guild Socialists after Guild Socialism: the Workers’ Control Group and the House of Industry League’, Twentieth Century British History, 11, 2 (2000)
‘“Devalued and Dejected Britons”: the pound in public discourse in the mid-1960s’, History Workshop Journal 47, (Spring 1999)
‘Reading the Notes: thoughts on the meanings of British paper money’, Humanities Research, 1999 (1).
‘Guild Socialism and the Historians’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, 44, 1, (March 1998)
Areas of Potential Postgraduate Supervision
- Irish history and Anglo-Irish relations since 1798, including the Northern Ireland conflict.
- British history since 1603, including political, social, cultural, economic and monetary history.
- Theories of empire and imperialism, especially Hobsonian and neo-Hobsonian approaches.
- History and fiction.