Directory of Research and Expertise

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Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Colonies & Colonization, emigration & immigration, Contemporary History, International Relations, Modern History

Regions:

Africa, Europe

Summary of research interests and expertise:

Twentieth-century British and Commonwealth history, including aspects of post-war British decolonization particularly in Africa, and post-war African politics. The British Monarchy and the Post-War Commonwealth. Also an interest in the Conservative party, right wing politics in Britain, and the European colonial empires since the nineteenth century. Intelligence History, MI5 (the Security Service) in the colonial Empire, and the activities of the British, Commonwealth and US intelligence communities in the twentieth century. Currently writing the volume on the British Security Service, MI5, in the Georgetown Studies in Intelligence series. Director of History & Policy at the Institute of Historical Research. Interested in the theory and practice of applied history.

Languages:

	Spoken	Written
French	Intermediate	Intermediate

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
24-Oct-2022	‘Defining British Nationality in the Era of Decolonization’ Chapters Chapter in Levke Harders and Falko Schnicke (eds), Belonging across Borders: Transnational Practices in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (OUP, 2022).
01-Jul-2021	The Empire's New Clothes: The Myth of the Commonwealth Monographs Revised paperback edition with new 10,000-word concluding chapter. ISBN-10 1787384934
17-Sep-2020	'State Visits Made and Received by the British and other European Monarchical Heads of State' Chapters 'State Visits Made and Received by the British and other European Monarchical Heads of State' in Robert Hazell and Bob Morris (eds), The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy European Monarchies Compared (London, Hart Publishing, 2020), ISBN: 9781509931033, pp. 133-148.
16-Jul-2020	Review of 'British Civic Society at the End of Empire: Decolonization, Globalisation and International Responsibility' byAnna Bocking-Welch. Review Journal of Contemporary History, Volume: 55 issue: 3, page(s): 704-705
04-Nov-2019	Review of 'Britannia's Zealots, Volume I: Tradition, Empire and the Forging of the Conservative Right', by N C Fleming. Review Published online in 'Cerles: revue pluridisciplinaire du monde anglophone', November 2019.
04-Mar-2019	Review of 'The Veiled Sceptre: Reserve Powers of Heads of State in Westminster Systems, by Anne Twomey' Review The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 47:1, 197-200, DOI: 10.1080/03086534.2019.1580868
19-Apr-2018	The Empire’s New Clothes: The Myth of the Commonwealth Monographs  Published by Hurst, ISBN: 9781849049467 296pp
01-Mar-2015	Acceptable Levels? The Use and Threat of Violence in the Decolonization of British Central Africa, 1953-1965 Chapters Bandeira Jerónimo, M. , Costa Pinto, A. (eds.) (2015) The Ends of European Colonial Empires: Cases and Comparisons, Palgrave MacMillan, ISBN 9781137394057
06-Dec-2013	Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, the British Government and the Postwar Commonwealth Monographs Oxford University Press
01-Jan-2012	‘Britain as a Great Power in the Twentieth Century’ Articles In Andrew Thompson (ed), Britain's Experience of Empire in the Twentieth Century: Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series (Oxford, OUP, 2012), pp. 33-75.
01-Jan-2012	The Queen and the Commonwealth Articles Jones-Parry R. and Robertson A. (eds) The Commonwealth Yearbook 2012. Nexus/Commonwealth Secretariat, pp. 172-3
01-Jan-2011	Britain and the Commonwealth: Confronting the Past - Imagining the Future Articles The Round Table 100 (414), pp. 267-283
21-Nov-2010	‘South African intelligence, the Wilson Plot and post-Imperial trauma’ in Patrick Major and Christopher R Moran (eds), Spooked: Britain, Empire and Intelligence since 1945 Cambridge Scholars Press
01-Jan-2010	‘A Police State? The Nyasaland Emergency and Colonial Intelligence’ Articles Journal of Southern African Studies, 36 (4), (Dec. 2010), pp. 765-780.
01-Jan-2010	Review of several books International History Review, 31/4, pp. 890-893
01-Dec-2009	Review article covering several books Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 37/4
01-Jan-2009	Review of Christopher Andrew, The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5 (2009) Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 38/2, pp. 340-44
01-Jan-2009	Review of the Daily Telegraph Book of Imperial and Commonwealth Obituaries (2009) Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 38/1, pp. 157-8
01-Jan-2009	The Commonwealth at 60. A Success Story? Global: the International Briefing
01-Jan-2005	British Documents on the End of Empire: Central Africa London, Stationery Office: Part I, cxxviii + 448 pp, ISBN 0112905862; Part II, xl + 602 pp, ISBN 0112905870
01-Jan-2001	‘Intelligence and Decolonization: The Life and Death of the Federal Intelligence and Security Bureau, 1954-63’ Articles The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 29 (2), (May 2001), pp. 101-130
01-Jan-1999	Alan Lennox-Boyd: A Biography Monographs London, I.B.Tauris, 1999, xi + 276pp.
01-Jan-1995	Party Politics and Decolonization: The Conservative Party and British Colonial Policy in Tropical Africa 1951-1964 Oxford, Oxford University Press: xii + 259pp

Publications available on SAS-space:

Date	Details
	The House of Windsor and the Modern Commonwealth NonPeerReviewed
	Queen Elizabeth II should be the final Head of the Commonwealth PeerReviewed Lurking not far beneath the surface of the current celebrations of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is a nagging anxiety: what happens next? Nowhere is this more acute than in Commonwealth circles. The future of the headship of the Commonwealth, a role the Queen has played with such dedication, is in doubt. Should it pass to her heir, Prince Charles? Dig a little deeper and you soon encounter off-the-record expressions of doubt about Charles’s suitability. Amid the rather awkward and embarrassed murmurings that pass for debate on this issue, the cases for and against Charles inheriting the headship have barely been explored or discussed. Set out systematically, both sets of arguments are powerful and both deserve to be taken seriously. Ultimately, however, we conclude that the interests of the Commonwealth would be best served if the post of Head of the Commonwealth ceased to exist at the end of Her Majesty’s reign.
	BDEEP vB9: Central Africa PeerReviewed The British Documents on the End of Empire Project (BDEEP) is an initiative of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London. Established in 1987 under the auspices of the British Academy, the Project has since published 18 volumes containing an annotated selection of official documents from the UK National Archives, charting British withdrawal from its colonial territories. Electronic versions of these volumes have been made available with the support of The Stationary Office under an Open Government Licence. Series B Volume 9 on 'Central Africa' was published in 2005 in two parts, edited by Philip Murphy.
	Interview with K Shankar Bajpai: Commonwealth Oral History Project NonPeerReviewed Interview with K Shankar Bajpai, conducted 13th June 2013 in New Delhi as part of the Commonwealth Oral History Project. The project aims to produce a unique digital research resource on the oral history of the Commonwealth since 1965 through sixty oral history interviews with leading figures in the recent history of the organisation. It will provide an essential research tool for anyone investigating the history of the Commonwealth and will serve to promote interest in and understanding of the organisation. Biography: Bajpai, K Shankar. 1928- . Born in Jaipur, India. Educated at Merton College, Oxford, and Ecole des Hautes Etudes Universitaire, Geneva. Joined Indian Foreign Service in 1952, serving in Germany, Turkey and Pakistan. Consul General, United States West of the Mississippi, 1967-70. Government of India’s Representative in Sikkim, 1970-74. Ambassador to the Netherlands, 1975. High Commissioner to Pakistan, 1976-80. Ambassador to China, 1980-82. Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, 1982-83. Ambassador to the United States, 1984-86. Co-founder (in 1994) and Chairman, Delhi Policy Group. Visiting Appointments at the University of California (1987-92), Brandeis University (1992-93), and Stanford University (2002).
Oct-2016	Interview with Ambassador Muchkund Dubey: Commonwealth Oral History Project NonPeerReviewed Interview with Ambassador Muchkund Dubey, conducted 4 July 2014 as part of the Commonwealth Oral History Project. The project aims to produce a unique digital research resource on the oral history of the Commonwealth since 1965 through sixty oral history interviews with leading figures in the recent history of the organisation. It will provide an essential research tool for anyone investigating the history of the Commonwealth and will serve to promote interest in and understanding of the organisation. Dubey, Muchkund. Born in India. Joined Indian Foreign Service, 1957. Former Indian Foreign Secretary. Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Former Permanent Representative to U.N. President Council for Social Development, Delhi.
Mar-2016	Interview with Salman Haidar: Commonwealth Oral History Project NonPeerReviewed Interview with Salman Haidar, conducted 14th June 2013 in Delhi as part of the Commonwealth Oral History Project. The project aims to produce a unique digital research resource on the oral history of the Commonwealth since 1965 through sixty oral history interviews with leading figures in the recent history of the organisation. It will provide an essential research tool for anyone investigating the history of the Commonwealth and will serve to promote interest in and understanding of the organisation. Biography: Haidar, Salman. Born in India. Graduate of Delhi University and University of Cambridge. Indian Foreign Service, 1960-. Minister/Deputy Permanent Representative of India at the United Nations in New York, 1977–80. Indian Foreign Secretary, 1995-1997. Former Ambassador to China, and Bhutan. Former Deputy High Commissioner to United Kingdom. Former High Commissioner to Kingdom, 1998.
Feb-2018	Interview with the Hon Alexander Downer: Commonwealth Oral History Project NonPeerReviewed Interview with the Hon Alexander Downer in London, 14th February 2018 as part of the Commonwealth Oral History Project. The project aims to produce a unique digital research resource on the oral history of the Commonwealth since 1965 through sixty oral history interviews with leading figures in the recent history of the organisation. It will provide an essential research tool for anyone investigating the history of the Commonwealth and will serve to promote interest in and understanding of the organisation. Biography: Downer, Alexander. 1951-. Born in Australia. Educated at Newcastle University (1975-1976). Australian Diplomatic Service, 1976-82. Political Adviser to Prime Minister JM Fraser, 1982-83. House of Representatives for Mayo, South Australia, 1984-2007. Shadow Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Environment, 1987. Shadow Minister for Housing and Small Business, 1988 to 1989. Shadow Minister for Trade and Trade Negotiations, 1990-1992. Shadow Minister for Defence from 1992-1993. Shadow Treasurer, 1993-1994. Leader of the Liberal Party (Opposition), 1994-1995. Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1995-1996. Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1996-2007. Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus, 2008-2014. High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, 2014-2018. Executive Chairman of the International School of Government at King’s College, London, 2018-.

Research Projects & Supervisions

Research projects:

Details
Commonwealth Oral History Project Institute of Commonwealth Studies Project period: 01-Oct-2012 - 30-Sep-2015 Research interests: Colonies & Colonization, emigration & immigration, Communities, Classes, Races, Contemporary History, International Relations, Modern History , Political Institutions
Quantitative Research Skills Training Institute of Commonwealth Studies Project period: 01-Mar-2013 - 01-Jul-2014 Research interests: Academic Support, Digital resources, Social Sciences
An Oral history of the Modern Commonwelth Institute of Commonwealth Studies Project period: 19-Oct-2015 - 19-Jul-2016 Research interests: History of art
The Visible Crown: Queen Elizabeth II and the Caribbean, 1952-present Institute of Historical Research Project period: 01-Aug-2021 - 31-Jul-2022 Research interests: Colonies & Colonization, emigration & immigration, Communities, Classes, Races, Contemporary History
The Windrush Scandal in a trans-national and Commonwealth context Institute of Historical Research Project period: 01-Jul-2021 - 30-Jun-2024 Research interests: Colonies & Colonization, emigration & immigration, Communities, Classes, Races, Contemporary History
An Oral History of the Modern Commonwealth, 1965-2010 Philip Murphy was Principal Investigator on this 3-year AHRC funded research project which ran from September 2012 to August 2015.
The Windrush Scandal in a Transnational and Commonwealth Context This three-year research project completed in 2024 seeks, for the first time, to produce a scholarly examination of the so-called Windrush Scandal within a fully transnational framework, one that properly considers the agency of a wide variety of official and non-official actors from both sides of the Atlantic and the role of the post-colonial and Commonwealth contexts of international relations.

Current PhD topics supervised:

Dates	Details
From: 01-Sep-2014 Until:	'Investigating Hidden Voices in the Struggle for Independence in Northern Rhodesia, 1958-64, with Particular Focus on the Cha Cha Cha Uprising of July-October 1961' Beatrice Randall. Part-time PhD study, co-supervised by Dr Susan Williams
From: 01-Oct-2024 Until: 30-Sep-2024	Managing End of Empire: the post-war Malayan Civil Service. Thesis by Brian Urwin on the role of the Malayan Civil Service in shaping British policy and the historical record.
From: 01-Aug-2020 Until:	Analysis of human rights violations during decolonisation in order to determine the effectiveness of traditional justice and restorative justice legal mechanism and remedies Carollann Braum. Co-Supervised by Professor David Cantor.

Past PhD topics supervised:

Dates	Details
From: 01-Oct-2012 Until: 30-Sep-2015	Placing knowledge in a decolonizing world: the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation and histories of expertise for development AHRC-Funded Collaborative Doctoral Award held by Matthew Battey. Jointly supervised by Dr Ruth Craggs and supported by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
From: 01-Aug-2010 Until: 31-Aug-2016	'From the Organisation of African Unity (AOU) to the African Union (AU): a transition from non-intervention to the right to intervene. A case study of Uganda’s interventions in the Great Lakes Region, 1986-2009' Charles Rukwengye, co-supervised by Dr Leo Zeilig
From: Until:	'Pursue Counter-terrorism and Prevent Counter-radicalisation: Applying Classical Enemy-centric and Population-centric Approaches in the post-9/11 Context.' Chamila Liyanage. Co-supervised by Professor Peter Neumann (King’s College London).

Professional Affiliations

Professional affiliations:

Name	Activity
Colonial and Postcolonial Policing Group	member
Commonwealth Democracy Forum	member

Collaborations:

Name	Type	Activity	Start date	End date
Study Group on Intelligence	Research and policy-related network bringing together academics and current and former members of the intelligence community	Termly meetings at the Royal United Services Institute

Relevant Events

Related events:

Date	Details
24-Jun-2020	'Taking Stock of the Commonwealth' Online conference linking speakers across the Commonwealth with panels on the World after Covid 19, Media Freedom, Threats to Democracy, the Windrush Scandal, Reparations for Slavery and Colonialism, and LGBT+ Rights.
13-Sep-2019	‘The Commonwealth and Brexit: A severe case of “Imperial nostalgia”?’ Speaker at conference ‘Striking Back? On Imperial Fantasies and Fantasies of Empire’ at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen, Germany.
14-May-2019	‘A stolen past? Europe and the compensation of colonial injustice’ Panelist at the Körber Stiftung History Forum, Berlin
17-Jan-2019	'The Empire's New Clothes: thinking about the Commonwealth in the era of Brexit.' In Conversation with Dr Joanna Lewis, LSE IDEAS and Department of International History (LSE).
17-Sep-2018	'Defining British nationality in the era of decolonisation' Special lecture in the presence of the British Ambassador, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea.
09-Jun-2018	'The Commonwealth of Nations' Participant on a panel discussion about the Commonwealth alongside Lord Howell, Philip Murphy, Salil Tripathi,Y K Sinha and John Elliott at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival at the British Library.
27-Apr-2018	'Foreigners, Friends and Family: The Conservative Party and the Problem of British National Identity since 1945.' Keynote lecture at the conference ‘Contested Borders? Practising Empire, Nation and Region in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries’, German Historical Institute, London.
25-Apr-2018	'Imperial Echo' Interviewed on Radio 4 documentary about the Commonwealth presented by Jonny Dymond.
19-Apr-2018	'The State of the Commonwealth' Panelist (along with former UK Minister Lord Boateng and former New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark) at special debate at the British Library about the Commonwealth, chaired by BBC journalist Reeta Chakrabarti.
12-Apr-2018	'The Queen: Her Commonwealth Story' Historical consultant for the BBC 1 documentary presented by George Alagiah.
09-Mar-2017	'Andrew Roth’s End of Empire: an unfinished history of decolonization' Centre for the History of Colonialisms Annual Lecture, University of Kent.
22-Jun-2016	'Rhodes, Reparations and the Future of Imperial History' Keynote Lecture at the British Scholar Society ‘Britain and the World’ Conference, King's College London
15-Jan-2016	'Time Come? The Persistence and Future of the Commonwealth Realms.' Keynote Lecture (delivered remotely) at the International Conference ‘The Crown in the 21st Century’, Victoria, Canada.
07-Dec-2015	'The Role of the Monarchy in the UK' The Chevening Christmas Lecture (delivered alongside Professor Robert Hazell), Organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at Queen Mary University of London.
06-Feb-2015	'The Commonwealth Charter' Presentation to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference, ‘Human Rights in the Modern Day Commonwealth: Magna Carta to the Commonwealth Charter’, Houses of Parliament.
28-Aug-2014	British Constitutional Monarchy in the context of the Commonwealth Workshop on 'Monarchy and Politics' at the Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich
08-Jul-2014	The Queen's Commonwealth: Monarchy and the End of Empire Gresham College public lecture
02-Jul-2014	The Long Indian Century: Historical transitions and social transformations Conference at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Delhi
06-May-2014	'The Accidental Intelligence Chief: Bob de Quehen and intelligence liaison in late-colonial Southern Africa'. University of Warwick conference, ‘Spy Chiefs: Intelligence Leaders in History, Culture and International Relations’, at the Palazzo Pesaro Papafava, Venice
10-Mar-2014	The House of Windsor, the British Government and the Commonwealth Séminaire Histoire du politique dans les mondes Anglophones, Paris Diderot University
14-Jun-2013	The British monarchy and the Commonwealth’ Lecture at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Delhi
01-Jan-2012	The Headship of the Commonwealth The Making of a Monarchy for the Modern World, Kensington Palace, 6-8 June 2012
01-Jan-2012	Peddling Gossip or Cheating the Censor? An Intelligence Historian writes about the British Royal Family The British Scholar 'Britain and the World Conference', University of Edinburgh, 22 June 2012
01-Jan-2012	Religious Freedom in the Commonwealth Workshop on Relgious Freedom in the Commonwealth organised by the Commonwealth Advisory Bureau. Sponsored and hosted by the Canadian High Commission, London, 22 March 2012.
01-Jan-2012	The Monarchy and Empire and Commonwealth Interview on the Radio 4 documentary series 'The Art of Monarchy'. Broadcast 24 March 2012.
01-Jan-2012	The Queen and the Commonwealth Interview on the French radio station Outremer Première, for a documentary entited 'God Save L'Empire?', broadcast 25 June 2012.
01-Jan-2012	The British Empire Interview on Australian ABC Radio National for Rear View documentary entitled 'The British Empire and What Became of it'. Broadcast 3 June 2012.
01-Jan-2012	The Commonwealth in the World: Resistance, Governance and Change Université Paris Diderot Institute of Commonwealth Studies / Commonwealth Advisory Bureau University of London 19 October 2012, 2 - 4 pm, Institut Charles V, Room A 50 Occasional seminar series The Commonwealth in the World: Resistance, Governance and Change Leslie James (London School of Economics) "Writing anti-imperial solidarity from London: George Padmore and the strategy of anti-colonial resistance" Followed by a discussion with Professor Philip Murphy (Institute of Commonwealth Studies) Intelligence and British Decolonisation
01-Jan-2011	Invited paper Conference at the University of Northumbria, 'The American and British Relationship with Africa since 1960', 10 June 2011
01-Jan-2011	The British Monarchy and the Post-War Commonwealth Paper presented to the University of Cambridge World History Seminar, 10 February 2011
01-Jan-2011	Britain and the Commonwealth: Confronting the Past - Imagining the Future Inaugural Lecture, Beveridge Hall, Senate House, London, 23 February 2011
01-Jan-2011	'"Unstable and Volatile": British perceptions of African nationalist leaders during the era of decolonization Conference on British Foreign Policy in Africa since 1957, 25 March 2011
01-Jan-2011	The threat of nationalist violence in British Central Africa, 1953-1965 Convenor, speaker and roundtable panellist at conference on The End of The Portuguese Empire in Comparative Perspective, Institute of Social Sciences – University of Lisbon, 20-21 June 2011
01-Jan-2011	The Commonwealth: A unique institution Commonwealth Secretariat Induction Programme for Commonwealth Diplomats, Farnham Castle, 6 September 2011
01-Jan-2010	Academic organiser 'Negotiating with the "Enemy": perspectives past and present' Workshop on counterinsurgency organised in conjunction with the Open University, 24 September 2010
01-Jan-2010	The Inaugural Commonwealth Conference: Citizenship in the Commonwealth Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, UK 10-12 November 2010
01-Jan-2010	The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group Commonwealth Secretariat Induction Programme for Commonwealth Diplomats, Farnham Castle, 8 September 2010
01-Jan-2009	Invited paper on the Nyasaland Emergency Open University Conference on Policing and Empire
01-Jan-2009	Invited speaker Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Conference at Marlborough House
01-Jan-2009	Invited to present paper Commonwealth History seminar, University of Oxford

Other editing/publishing activities:

Date	Details
2020	Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History Joint editor since October 2007

Consultancy & Media

Media experience:

Yes

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