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Gareth John Darwin CBE FBA (born 29 June 1948) is a British historian and academic, who specialises in the history of the British Empire. From 1984 to 2019, he was the Beit Lecturer in Commonwealth History at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. He was a lecturer in history at the University of Reading between 1972 and 1984.

Early life and education

Darwin was born on 29 June 1948 in Exeter, Devon, England. He was educated at Brockenhurst Grammar School, a mixed-sex state grammar school in Brockenhurst, Hampshire. He studied history at St John's College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Oxon) degree. He later undertook postgraduate research at Nuffield College, Oxford, and completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1978 on the coalition government of David Lloyd George and Britain's imperial policy in Egypt and the Middle East between 1918 and 1922.

Career

From 1972 to 1984, Darwin was a lecturer in history at the University of Reading. In 1984, he moved to the University of Oxford where he had been appointed the Beit Lecturer in the History of the Commonwealth of Nations. That year, he was also elected a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. Since October 2014, he had been the Director of the Oxford Centre for Global History. In November 2014, he was granted a Title of Distinction as Professor of Global and Imperial History. As of 2019, he is retired. His current research is into the role of the great port cities of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Honours and awards

In 2008, Darwin was awarded the Wolfson History Prize for his book After Tamerlane: The Global History of Empire since 1405. In 2012, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA).

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to the study of global history.

Publications

• Britain, Egypt, and the Middle East: Imperial Policy in the Aftermath of War, 1918–1922 (May 1981)
• The Empire of the Bretaignes, 1175–1688: The Foundations of a Colonial System of Government: Select Documents on the Constitutional History of The ... Volume I (Documents in Imperial History) (24 May 1985)
• Britain and Decolonisation: The Retreat from Empire in the Post-War World (Making of the 20th Century) (November 1988)
• The End of the British Empire: The Historical Debate (Making Contemporary Britain) (10 January 1991)
• After Tamerlane: The Global History of Empire Since 1405 (5 February 2008)
• The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World-System, 1830–1970 (30 October 2009)
• Unfinished Empire: The Global Expansion of Britain (12 February 2013)
• Unlocking the World: Port Cities and Globalization in the Age of Steam, 1830-1930 (1 October 2020)

Personal life

In 1973, Darwin married Caroline Atkinson. Together they have three daughters: Claire, Charlotte and Helen.

See also

• Jeremy Black (historian)

References

1. Thompson, Andrew Stuart (1994). Thinking imperially? Imperial pressure groups and the idea of Empire in late-Victorian and Edwardian Britain. bodleian.ox.ac.uk (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.260092. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
2. ^ Anon (2017) "Darwin, John". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.256690 (subscription required)
3. "University of Oxford Faculty of History > About the Faculty > Profile Dr John Darwin Dr John Darwin". Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
4. ^ "Dr John Darwin". British Academy. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
5. "Home | Oxford Centre for Global History". People. University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
6. "Recognition of Distinction". Oxford University Gazette. 145 (5076). University of Oxford. 6 November 2014. Archived from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
7. "Professor John Darwin | Faculty of History". www.history.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
8. "Previous winners". History Prize. The Wolfson Foundation. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
9. "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N8.
10. Darwin, John (1981). Britain, Egypt, and the Middle East: Imperial Policy in the Aftermath of War, 1918-1922. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312097360.
11. Fieldhouse, David; Madden, Frederick (24 May 1985). The Empire of the Bretaignes, 1175-1688: The Foundations of a Colonial System of Government: Select Documents on the Constitutional History of The ... Volume I. Greenwood. ISBN 0313238979.
12. Darwin, John (1 November 1988). Britain and Decolonisation: The Retreat from Empire in the Post-War World. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0312024649.
13. Darwin, John (1 January 1991). The End of the British Empire: The Historical Debate. Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0631164278.
14. Darwin, John (5 February 2008). After Tamerlane: The Global History of Empire Since 1405. Bloomsbury Press. ISBN 978-1596913936.
15. The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World-System, 1830-1970. Cambridge University Press. 30 October 2009. ISBN 978-0521302081.
16. Darwin, John (12 February 2013). Unfinished Empire: The Global Expansion of Britain. Bloomsbury Press. ISBN 978-1620400371.
17. Darwin, John. Unlocking the World. Retrieved 22 January 2021. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)

• 1948 births
• Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford
• Living people
• Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
• Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford
• Writers from Exeter
• Fellows of the British Academy
• Academics of the University of Reading
• Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
• English historians
• Wolfson History Prize winners