Directory of Research and Expertise

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Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Civil Rights, Colonies & Colonization, emigration & immigration, Communications, Communities, Classes, Races, Contemporary History, Cultural memory, Gender studies, Globalization & Development, Human rights, International Relations, Metropolitan history, Modern History , Political Institutions, Politics

Regions:

Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, North America, South America, United Kingdom

Summary of research interests and expertise:

Dr Williams is a historian who seeks to investigate the role and the impacts of imperialism and neo-colonialism on the continent of Africa in the 20th and 21st centuries. Closely associated with this focus is the history of the United Nations. At the centre of these concerns is the contestation over the human and democratic rights of justice and freedom. Her research draws on a wide range of sources in different nations: primarily on archives, official and private; and also on oral testimony, media, and visual observation.  

She is a Recipient of the 2023 Windham-Campbell Prize for Nonfiction, administered by Yale University. The awarding committee noted in its citation: ‘Susan Williams chronicles imperial legacies with a forensic eye, a historical mind, and a decolonial sensibility for African agency; her findings are as stunning as they are transformative.’

She is frequently invited to act as a historical advisor to the media (television, radio and print). She also serves as historical consultant to the production of films (see below) and has been advisor to the work of independent and official inquiries (for example see below).

Project summary relevant to Fellowship:

In 2021 Dr Williams completed a major new study of the covert operations pursued by the CIA in the late 1950s and 1960s from Ghana to the Congo to the UN, which frustrated and devastated Africa’s new generation of nationalist leaders. This dramatically upends the conventional belief that the African nations failed to establish effective, democratic states on their own accord. At the centre of the study is the political alliance between Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba, and the Pan Africanist movement.

A key finding of the research relates to the role of the US globally: that although the US has insisted that democracy is the superior method of government for any society, it subverted and prevented democracy in many nations in Africa in which it had geopolitical, strategic and business interests.

The study was published in the US as White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa by PublicAffairs in August 2021 (hardback) and forthcoming in paperback (August 2023); in the UK as White Malice: The CIA and the Neocolonisation of Africa by Hurst in September 2021 (hardback) and forthcoming in paperback (June 2023); and in South Africa as White Malice: The CIA and the Neo Colonisation of Africa by Jacana in October 2021 (paperback). In 2022 the book was translated into Swahili and published online as White Malezia: Ukoloni wa CIA barani.

Her previous book (2016) was Spies in the Congo: The Race for the Ore that Built the Atomic Bomb (the sub-title in the USA is America’s Atomic Mission in World War II), which looks at espionage in the Belgian Congo during the Second World War, in the context of global power struggles, the European colonial presence in Africa, and the competition for strategic raw materials. 

Pathe bought the film rights to Dr Williams’s book Colour Bar (Penguin) about the Founding President of Botswana, Sir Seretse Khama. Filming took place in Botswana and in the UK in 2015. In November 2016, Pathe released the film under the title A UNITED KINGDOM. The film was directed by Amma Asante and starred David Oyelowo as Seretse Khama and Rosamund Pike as Ruth Khama. Dr Williams served as historical advisor. The film has been premiered in different parts of the world and opened the London Film Festival of 2016; it has received outstanding reviews and widespread acclaim for its moving spotlight on issues relating to British imperialism and the spirit of the movement towards the decolonisation of southern Africa. 

Film rights to Dr Williams's book Who Killed Hammarskjöld? (Hurst/Oxford University Press) have been bought; she serves as historical advisor to the producer.

Dr Williams has continued, since the publication of Who Killed Hammarskjöld?, to serve as a historical advisor on a variety of fronts relating to its themes. The book argues the case for a new inquiry into the plane crash that killed UN SG Dag Hammarskjold. It triggered led in 2012 to the independent Hammarskjöld Commission, chaired by Sir Steven Sedley, to which Dr Williams provided historical expertise. On the recommendation of the Commission’s report in 2013, in December 2014 a Resolution was adopted unanimously by the UN General Assembly, authorising the Secretary General to appoint a UN Panel of Experts to examine the evidence; the Head of the Panel was Chande Othman, Chief Justice of Tanzania. In June 2015 Justice Othman submitted his report to UN SG Ban Ki Moon, who stated that ‘further inquiry or investigation would be necessary to finally establish the facts’. Following the adoption of a further Resolution by the UNGA in December 2016, Justice Othman was selected in 2017 by Secretary General António Guterres as Eminent Person with the mandate to review potential new information, assess its probative value, and determine the scope that any further investigation should take. The Judge has submitted three further reports to the SG; his report of 2022 can be found here: http://www.hammarskjoldinquiry.info/pdf/ham_327_Eminent_Persons_report_250822.pdf. On 30 December 2022, Sweden -- together with 140 co-sponsor nations -- led the UN General Assembly to adopt without a vote a resolution that ensured the continuation of the inquiry under the leadership of Judge Othman.

In his 2017 report, Judge Othman referred to ‘the academic and historian Susan Williams, whose 2011 work was seminal in the reinvigoration of interest in this matter.’ In his most recent report of 2022, Judge Othman noted: ‘As under previous mandates, specific recognition is due in acknowledging the contributions of Susan Williams, which are historical, continuing and significant.’ Dr Williams continues to serve as historical advisor to Judge Othman and his team at the UN at this critical stage of the enquiry. 

She collaborates on a number of major events and projects with Dr Mandy Banton, also a Senior Fellow at ICWS; they have also co-organised events with the United Nations Association Westminster.

 

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
27-Apr-2023	‘One Step Backward. We Shall Take Two Forward’ Articles Published in Labour Hub.
12-Jan-2023	‘John Chilembwe: a new statue celebrates Malawi Pan-Africanist the world forgot’ Articles Published in The Conversation; reproduced by ICwS.
30-Nov-2022	White Malezia: Ukoloni wa CIA barani Afrika. Monographs White Malice translated into Swahili.
30-Jun-2022	‘The CIA versus the UN in the Congo: The covert delivery of fighter jets to Katanga in 1961’ Journal articles Published in Review of African Political Economy.
13-Jun-2022	'RD Congo: «Les Etats-Unis ont tiré les ficelles derrière l’assassinat de Patrice Lumumba»' Articles Interview with Maurin Picard published in Le Soir. Reproduced in Actualités Congolaises.
31-Oct-2021	White Malice: The CIA and the Neo Colonisation of Africa Monographs Johannesburg: Jacana (paperback book)
28-Oct-2021	‘Top 10 books on neocolonialism’ Articles Published in the Guardian.
18-Sep-2021	‘Sixty years on: the unanswered questions about the death of Dag Hammarskjöld’ Articles Published in Labour Hub.
15-Sep-2021	White Malice: The CIA and the Neocolonisaton of Africa Monographs London: Hurst (hardback book)
10-Aug-2021	White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa Monographs New York: PublicAffairs (hardback book). It is also available as an audiobook read by Chante McCormick: https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/susan-williams/white-malice/9781549136078/
01-Feb-2019	The Politics of the Welfare State Edited Book  This book is coedited by Ann Oakley and Susan Williams. It is a second edition of a book published originally by UCL Press in 1994. It will be Volume 25 of ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: WELFARE AND THE STATE
20-Dec-2018	‘“Hands off Africa!!”’ Journal articles Co-authored by Mandy Banton, David Wardrop, Susan Williams, published in Review of African Political Economy.
24-Apr-2018	The Commonwealth: adapting to post-war, post-imperial realities Articles  Published in Commonwealth Opinion, in the 'Is the Commonwealth relevant?' series
16-Apr-2018	Commonwealth of Nations – not Britain Articles  Published in Talking Humanities, curated by SAS, a series of scholarly articles marking the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London
29-Mar-2017	Ruth Williams Khama (1923–2002): First Lady of Botswana Articles Published in BBC World History.
13-Jan-2017	Congolese uranium and the Cold War Articles Published in New African.
01-Jan-2017	A United Kingdom. L'Amore Che Ha Cambiato La Storia, Un'incredibile storia vera, translation of Colour Bar into Italian Monographs Published by Newton Compton Editori (Italy); translated by Adriana Altavilla.
20-Dec-2016	Who Killed Hammarskjold? The UN, the Cold War and White Supremacy in Africa, 2nd edn with an additional chapter co-authored with Henning Melber and David Wardrop Monographs The additional chapter co-authored with Henning Melber and David Wardrop is entitled: 'Update: Journey for Truth -- from 2011 to 2016'; Hurst (UK) and Oxford University Press (USA)
15-Nov-2016	Colour Bar. A United Kingdom Monographs This paperback is the media-tie edition published by Penguin to coincide with the release of the film A United Kingdom, which is based on the book. David Oyelowo, who plays the lead as Seretse Khama, said: 'Reading the book, I realised that I had never seen an African love story of this cinematic scope. It spoke to me as an African, as a man, as a romantic'.
19-Sep-2016	Speaking truth to power: The killing of Dag Hammarskjöld and the cover-up Articles This article was co-authored with Henning Melber. It was published online by The Conversation and then republished on many other websites globally.
01-Sep-2016	How a rich uranium mine thrust the Congo into the centre of the Cold War Articles This article was published online by The Conversation and then republished on many other websites globally.
24-Aug-2016	The link between uranium from the Congo and Hiroshima: a story of twin tragedies Articles This article was published online by The Conversation and then republished on many other websites globally.
18-Aug-2016	Congo: its past, present and link to Hiroshima Articles Published by Talking Humanities.
13-Aug-2016	The Female Spy Who Kept Uranium Out of the Nazis’ Hands Articles Published by Daily Beast.
09-Aug-2016	Spies in the Congo: America's Atomic Mission in World War II Monographs Published by PublicAffairs (USA); this is the American edition of Spies in the Congo: The Race for the Ore That Built the Atomic Bomb
18-Jun-2016	Congolese Uranium, Nazi Germany and the Race to Build the A-Bomb Articles  Published in Newsweek.
01-Apr-2016	Spies in the Congo: The Race for the Ore that Built the Atomic Bomb (UK); Spies in the Congo: America's Atomic Mission in World War II (USA) Monographs Published by Hurst (UK).
10-Dec-2015	Freedom of Information and the Commonwealth Edited Book A Special Issue of The Round Table, co-edited by Williams with Dr Mandy Banton (SAS) and Professor Elizabeth Shepherd (UCL) and with an introduction by all three editors
01-Jul-2015	The Vilification of Wallis Simpson Chapters In BBC HIstory Magazine edited volume: The Secret Lives of Royal Women
01-Sep-2014	Who Killed Hammarskjold? The UN, the Cold War and White Supremacy in Africa Monographs Hardback and Paperback publication by Oxford University Press
01-Jan-2014	Nelson Mandela Articles  BBC History Magazine: contribution to 'Ten Photographs that Shook the World'
01-Sep-2013	Lise Namikas: Battleground Africa: Cold War in the Congo, 1960–1965 Review International Affairs, Volume 89, Issue 5
01-Oct-2012	Freedom of Information and the Commonwealth Journal articles with Mandy Banton, The Round Table, Vol 101, No 05, 471-473, October 2012
01-Jan-2011	Who Killed Hammarskjold? The UN, the Cold War and White Supremacy in Africa Monographs Hurst and Co in the UK; Jacana in South Africa; Columbia University Press in the USA (later Oxford University Press in the USA).
01-Jan-2010	Ways of Seeing Africa Chapters Introductory essay to Africa Bibliography 2009, ed. T. Barringer, Edinburgh University Press
01-Jan-2009	The Iconography of Independence: ‘Freedoms at Midnight’ Edited Book with Robert Holland and T. Barringer. Routledge. Susan wrote the introductory chapter: 'The Midnight Hour'
17-Aug-2006	Colour Bar. The Triumph of Seretse Khama and His Nation Monographs Allen Lane/Penguin; paperback 2007. The film rights to Colour Bar were bought by Pathe in order to make the film A UNITED KINGDOM, which is based on the book.
01-Jan-2006	The Media and the Exile of Seretse Khama: The Bangwato vs the British in Bechuanaland, 1948-1956 Chapters In Media and the British Empire, ed. Chandrika Kaul, Palgrave Macmillan
01-Jan-2003	Book (authored): The People's King. The True Story of the Abdication Monographs Allen Lane/Penguin. Paperback 2004. Published by Palgrave Macmillan in the USA.
01-Jan-2001	The Children of London: Attendance and Welfare at School 1870-1990 Monographs with Pat Ivin and Caroline Morse. Institute of Education, University of London.
01-Jan-2000	Ladies of Influence. Women of the Elite in Interwar Britain Monographs Allen Lane/Penguin, paperback in 2001
01-Jan-2000	Historical Research Methods Chapters A chapter in Research Methodology: For What? For Whom? eds Mayall, B, et al. Open University Press

Research Projects & Supervisions

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 Uprisig of July-October 1961  Joint Supervision with Professor Philip Murphy

Available for doctoral supervision: Yes

Relevant Events

Related events:

Date	Details
04-Apr-2023	Windham Campbell Prize for Nonfiction video Recipient video.
04-Apr-2023	Windham Campbell Prize for Nonfiction B-roll video Recipient B-roll video
24-Mar-2022	The 9th annual Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art International Women’s Day Lecture: ‘Help Our Mothers: Lucy Baldwin's Campaign’ Because Dr Williams was very ill with Covid on this date, Professor James Thomas at UCL Institute of Education kindly read it out on her behalf.
09-Nov-2021	'The CIA’s secret African missions' Podcast by Rob Attar for History Extra, the official website for BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed.
11-Oct-2021	‘History and Science: methods of research’ Presentation to MSc students for the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
05-Oct-2021	'CIA Neocolonisation' Interview with Sean Moncrieff on Newstalk.
16-Sep-2021	'The CIA in post-colonial Africa' Interview on Newsday, BBC World Service.
16-Sep-2021	'The UN inquiry into Hammarskjöld's death: last chance to reach the truth' A webinar co-organised with Mandy Banton (ICwS) and David Wardrop (UNA Westminster). Chaired by Lord Boateng; speakers included Senator Sydney Sekeramayi, Zimbabwe’s Independent Appointee to the ongoing UN Hammarskjöld enquiry.
25-Mar-2021	'Climate change challenges: the Commonwealth path towards COP 26' A webinar co-organised with Mandy Banton (ICwS) and David Wardrop (UNA Westminster). Speakers included ICwS fellows Ambassador Sir Ronald Sanders and the Reverend Guy Hewitt.
07-Apr-2020	‘Who Killed Hammarskjöld?’ Podcast with Williams and Michela Wrong in the AfterWords series.
14-Oct-2019	‘Help unravel cause of former UN Sec. Gen’s death’ In-person interview with Williams in the Daily Graphic, Accra, Ghana.
25-Apr-2019	‘Covering-up the Truth about Dag Hammarskjöld’s Death: The UK government’s refusal to comply with the UN’s request to appoint an independent and high-ranking official to review its intelligence and security records’ Paper given at a conference organised in the House of Lords, London, by UNA Westminster on questions relating to Dag Hammarskjöld’s death.
06-Dec-2018	‘”Hands Off Africa!!”’ The 1958 All African People’s Conference: Its Impact Then and Now’ A colloquium co-organised with Mandy Banton (ICwS) and David Wardrop (UNA Westminster). Speakers included Dr Kenneth Kaunda, First President of Zambia (by video). The Round Table was chaired by Lord (Paul) Boateng, a member of the Rifkind Committee on the future of the ICwS.
28-Apr-2017	Public talk after screening of film 'A United Kingdom'  Given at Göta cinema, Gothenburg, Sweden.
27-Apr-2017	Atomic Africa: The hijacked histories of the Democratic Republic of Congo and of Ghana in the 20th century Public lecture given by invitation at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
24-Nov-2016	Interview about Spies in the Congo on 'Viewpoints with Todd van der Heyden'  'Weekend Mornings' on CJAD, a Canada-wide radio service.
04-Nov-2016	A United Kingdom: Panel discussion following the screening of the film  Event in Africa Film Festival (Royal African Society), London, 2016. Panel discussion at Phoenix Cinema between SW (author of Colour Bar), via Skype, Donald Molosi (actor and playwright, Kabelo in A United Kingdom) and Trevor Mwamba (Anglican bishop and friend of Seretse Khama). Chaired by Chibundu Onuzo.
03-Sep-2016	Meet the Writers: interview with Georgina Godwin  Monocle Radio
23-Aug-2016	Great Lives with Matthew Parris: Dag Hammarskjöld  BBC Radio 4.
06-Aug-2016	The Missing Link: Peace and Security Surrounding Uranium Lecture given at South African Museum, Cape Town, invited by the Congolese Civil Society of South Africa.
27-Jun-2016	Belgian Congo's contribution to the atomic bombing of Japan   Interview on Newsday - BBC Africa, BBC World Service - about Spies in the Congo.On BBC World Service.
22-May-2016	Interview on the death of UNSG Dag Hammarskjöld by Karin Hållsten  Sveriges Radio (Swedish NPR).
16-Jul-2015	'Sowing the Whirlwind': Nuclear Politics and the Historical Record Organiser, with Dr Mandy Banton (SAS) and David Wardrop (United Nations Association Westminster Branch), of a major international conference, with a keynote address by Akiko Mikamo, US-Japan Psychological Services. Other sppeakers included Peter Kuznick (American University, Washington), Matthew Jones (LSE), Andreas Persbo (VERTIC), Bruce Kent (CND), Susan Williams (ICWS/SAS), Walt Patterson (Chatham House/University of Sussex), Knox Chitiyo (Chatham House), Joe Lauria (Wall Street Journal). The conference was accompanied by an exhibition from the ICWS library curated by Christine Anderson.
16-Jul-2015	Conference paper: Blank Pages of History: Congolese uranium and the Manhattan Project  Paper presented at ‘Sowing the Whirlwind’: Nuclear Politics and the Historical Record, a conference held by ICWS/SAS
13-Jun-2015	Speaker in Panel: “Something to Live For, Great Enough to Die For” – Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld Revisited ACUNS (Academic Council on the United Nations System) at The Hague Institute of Global Justice: The UN at 70
07-May-2015	Portillo's State Secrets, BBC 2 television series on documents held by the UK National Archives Talking Head in the third episode of this BBC 2 television series, looking at documents held by the UK National Archives
29-Jan-2015	Understanding Namibia - Book Launch Organiser with Dr Mandy Banton of a seminar to launch a new book by Professor Henning Melber. Speakers were David Simon(Royal Holloway) and Marion Wallace (Africa Curator, The British Library).
23-Oct-2014	Black History Month Book Talk  This public event took place in Leicester City Centre
08-Sep-2014	Colloquium: The United Nations and End of Empire: Revisiting the Role of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold  Organiser with Dr Mandy Banton of a colloquium revisiting themes emerging from a conference held three years earlier on Dag Hammarskjold, the UN and the End of Empire. Speakers were John Y Jones (Voksenasen, Oslo), Henning Melber (Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, Uppsala), and Edward Mortimer (All Souls College, Oxford).
10-Jul-2014	Why join the Commonwealth?   Organiser, with Dr Mandy Banton, of a colloquium to address the question 'Why join the Commonwealth', chaired by Stuart Mole and with distinguished speakers: Knox Chitiyo, Jean-Roger Kaseki, Sir Ronald Sanders, and Arif Zaman,
29-May-2014	The Secret Archive: What is the significance of FCO’s ‘Migrated Archives’ and ‘Special Collections’?  Organiser, with Dr Mandy Banton, of a high profile one-day conference, with contributions from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), key actors, distinguished scholars from Africa and Europe, the press (Guardian), and the National Security Archive at George Washington University, Washington DC. It was supported by the ASAUK and Hurst Publishers.
15-Apr-2014	Colloquium (New York): Portrait of a Secretary General  The Century Association of New York: speaker along with Roger Lipsey, biographer, and Andrew Gilmour, Political Director, Executive Office of the Secretary General
24-Feb-2014	Lecture (Oslo): 'Silencing and Lies' 'Silencing and Lies: The death of Hammarskjöld, Congolese uranium, and the annexation of history', lecture given to the Dag Hammarskjöld Programme, Voksenaasen, Oslo, Norway
30-Jan-2014	Congolese Uranium and Nuclear Hegemony  Seminar presentation to Research Fellows, Institute of Commonwealth Studies: 'Congolese Uranium and Nuclear Hegemony: Espionage, Deception, and a Void in History'
14-Jan-2014	Canadian radio feature interview: International Effort To Re-Investigate the Mysterious Circumstances of the death of Former UN Secretary General Hour long in-depth telephone interview with broadcaster Paul Daniel on Canadian radio: Accessible Media Inc. (AMI)
29-Apr-2013	Presentation relating to Inquiries into the Death of UN SG Dag Hammarskjold  Leiden Law School: Presentation to students, organised by Prof Dr Alex Geert Castermans.
01-Jan-2012	Dag Hammarskjold and the Decolonisation of Africa. Ndola airport, Northern Rhodesia, 17-18 September 1961 Public lecture at the African Studies Centre, University of Oxford, 19 January 2012
01-Jan-2012	Channel 4 documentary, Edward VIII: The Plot to Topple A King Focal Talking Head through the programme, screened first in April 2012 and repeated many times
01-Jan-2012	Secrecy and Disclosure: Freedom of Information and the Commonwealt Organiser with Dr Mandy Banton of a high profile conference of prominent campaigners, practitioners and historians, June 2012
01-Jan-2011	Dag Hammarskjold and the Decolonisation of Africa: Looking through a telescope at Ndola airport, 17-18 September 1961 Invited lecture to the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences, Gothenburg, Sweden, November 2011
01-Jan-2011	Dag Hammarskjold's death and the Decolonisation of Africa Public lecture at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, November 2011
01-Jan-2011	Dag Hammarskjöld, the United Nations, and the End of Empire Convenor with Dr Mandy Banton, of one-day international conference to mark the 50th anniversary of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld's death, 2 September 2001. The conference was organised jointly with the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, Uppsala, Sweden, and the United Nations Association of the UK, Westminster Branch. The evening before, a welcoming event was hosted by the Swedish Ambassador, Ms Nicola Clase, at her official Residence in London.
01-Jan-2011	Commonwealth Research Seminar Series Convenor with Dr Shihan DeSilva at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. This seminar series provides an opportunity for Fellows and Students at ICwS to share and discuss with each other their work in progress on subjects relating to the Commonwealth and its concerns. The spirit is informal and friendly and everyone is welcome, including scholars outside the ICwS community.
01-Jan-2011	Media interview In connection with the publication of her book Who Killed Hammarskjold, Susan was interviewed on Newshour, BBC World Service.
01-Jan-2010	Commonwealth Research Seminar Series Convenor with Dr Shihan DeSilva at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. This seminar series provides an opportunity for Fellows and Students at ICwS to share and discuss with each other their work in progress on subjects relating to the Commonwealth and its concerns. The spirit is informal and friendly and everyone is welcome, including scholars outside the ICwS community.
01-Jan-2010	The Empire/Commonwealth between the Wars This lecture was in a series of public lectures on ‘Empire into Commonwealth, 1910-2010’, to mark the joint centenary of the Round Table journal and the Royal Over-Seas League in London.
01-Jan-2010	The Use of Modern Media to Enrich Research on Twentieth Century Africa This was a presentation at SOAS to SCOLMA, the UK libraries and archives group on Africa.
01-Jan-2009	Growing up in the Modern Commonwealth The Address to the Annual Dinner of the Cambridge University Commonwealth Society
01-Jan-2009	Links between British rule in Botswana and Kenya in the Process of Decolonisation Seminar paper given to the Department of Modern History at the University of St Andrews
01-Jan-2009	Commonwealth Research Seminar Series Convenor with Dr Shihan DeSilva at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. This seminar series provides an opportunity for Fellows and Students at ICwS to share and discuss with each other their work in progress on subjects relating to the Commonwealth and its concerns. The spirit is informal and friendly and everyone is welcome, including scholars outside the ICwS community.
01-Jan-2008	The Thirties in Colour, BBC4 Susan served as an advisor and Talking Head on this television programme on British imperial history.
01-Jan-2007	'Freedoms at Midnight': The Iconography of Independence Susan was a convenor with Professor Robert Holland of this one day conference, which looked at Independence Day ‘moments’ in several British colonies – India, Pakistan, Ghana, Guyana and Zimbabwe; it also examined the role of the media, of the monarchy, and of independence anniversaries. This focus was complemented by a comparative dimension, looking at how such junctures – amongst the most important in the twentieth century – were conducted in the French Empire.
01-Jan-2006	Abdication. A Very British Coup, BBC4 documentary Susan's book The People's King was the basis for this Blakeway/BBC documentary, which highlights the role of the Commonwealth and the Dominions. Susan worked as the historical consultant and is the central Talking Head.
01-Jan-2006	Media interviews In connection with the publication of the book Colour Bar, Susan was interviewed on radio on the BBC World Service; local UK radio stations; several South African radio stations, national and local; and Australian Broadcasting (ABC). On television, she was interviewed on Botswana television (BTV) and South African television (SABC).
01-Jan-2006	When Britain Backed Apartheid: Seretse Khama and the Harragin Inquiry of 1949 This was a seminar paper given to the Department of History at the University of Botswana
01-Jan-2003	Media interviews In connection with the publication of her book, The People's King, Susan was interviewed on radio on the Today Programme, BBC Radio 4; Women’s Hour, Radio 4; local UK radio stations; Gyles Brandreth Show, LBC; and CBC Radio. On television, she was interviewed on BBC Newsnight; Channel 4 News; Sky News; BBC News 24; Canadian Broadcasting (CBC); and Russian television.
01-Jan-2003	Historical Advisor to the UK National Archives Susan served in this capacity for the release of the government documents relating to the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936 and its impact on the Commonwealth.

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