Sir David Nicholas Cannadine (born 7 September 1950) is a British author and historian who specialises in
modern history
The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is appli ...
,
Britain and the
history of business and
philanthropy. He is currently the
Dodge Professor of History at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
,
a visiting professor of history at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, and the editor of the ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
''. He has been the president of the
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...
since 2017, the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. He also serves as the chairman of the trustees of the
National Portrait Gallery in London and vice-chair of the editorial board of ''
Past & Present''.
Education and early career
David Nicholas Cannadine was born in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
on 7 September 1950 and attended
King Edward VI Five Ways School. He was educated at
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...
, where he took a double first in history, at
St John's College, Oxford
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pr ...
, where he completed his
DPhil
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
, and at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
where he was a
Jane Eliza Procter Visiting Fellow.
[Kelly Boyd, ''Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing'' (1999), p. 926.] After completing his graduate work, he returned to
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, where he was a research fellow at
St John's College, and was then elected a Fellow of
Christ's College and appointed to a university lectureship in history.
Subsequent career
Cannadine was appointed to the professorial chair of history at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1988, returning to Britain ten years later as director of the
Institute of Historical Research at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...
and, subsequently, as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Professor of British History. In 2008 he joined the
History Department of Princeton University from which he has announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year. In 2014 he was appointed
Editor of the ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' and also to a visiting professorship at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
.
Cannadine has held many other visitorial appointments: at the
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
at Princeton (twice), at
Birkbeck College
, mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck.
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £4.3 m (2014)
, budget = £10 ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, at the
Whitney Humanities Center, Yale, at
ANU Canberra, at the
NHC North Carolina, at the
Huntington Library and at
New York University Stern School of Business. He is the general editor of the
Penguin History of Britain and
the Penguin History of Europe. He is currently completing a volume on the history of the
Ford Foundation.
Works
Cannadine's books include ''The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy'' (1990); ''
G. M. Trevelyan: A Life in History'' (1992); ''Class in Britain'' (1998); ''
Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire'' (2001); ''
Mellon: An American Life'' (2006); ''The Thirty Year Rule'' (jointly, 2009); ''The Right Kind of History'' (jointly, 2011); and ''The Undivided Past: Humanity Beyond our Differences'' (2013). His most recent publications are ''
Victorious Century: The United Kingdom, 1800–1906'' (2018), published for the
Penguin History of Britain series, as well as two edited volumes on
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
and on
Anthony Blunt.
Cannadine has delivered many public lectures including the Raleigh Lecture at the British Academy (1997), the Carnochan Lecture at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
(2001), the Linbury Lecture at the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
(2002), the T. S. Eliot Lecture at
Washington University in St. Louis (2003), the
George Macaulay Trevelyan Lectures at the University of Cambridge (2007), the Inaugural Lecture for the Centre for British Studies at Humboldt University, Berlin (2010), the Crosby Kemper Lecture at Westminster College (
Fulton, Missouri), the Jon Sigurosson Lecture at the
University of Iceland
The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servant ...
(2012), the Haaga Lecture at the
Huntington Library (2012), the Creighton Lecture at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
(2013), the Robb Lectures at the
University of Auckland, New Zealand (2015), the Wolfson Anniversary Lecture at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
(2015), the Oxford University Press Centenary Lecture (2017) and the Founder's Lecture at
St John's College, Oxford
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pr ...
(2019).
Public work
Cannadine has served as a vice-president of the
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history.
Origins
The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...
(1998–2002) and as a member of the advisory council, Public Record Office, subsequently National Archives (1999–2004); as a trustee and vice-chairman of the
Kennedy Memorial Trust
Kennedy Scholarships provide full funding for up to ten British post-graduate students to study at either Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Susan Hockfield, the sixteenth president of MIT, described the scho ...
(1999–2010); as a trustee, vice-chair and chair of the
National Portrait Gallery (2000–12); as a commissioner of
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
(2001–09) and as
Chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...
of its Blue Plaques Panel (2006–13); as a member of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee (2004–14); and as chair of Churchill 2015 (2013–15).
Cannadine is also widely known as a commentator on current events, in newspapers, on the radio and on television; he has been a long-standing contributor to ''A Point of View'', broadcast on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...
, as the successor to
Alastair Cooke
Alistair Cooke (born Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States.[Letter from America
''Letter from America'' was a weekly fifteen-minute speech radio series broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and its predecessor, the Home Service, and around the world through the BBC World Service. From its first edition to its last, it was presented by ...]
''; and he has also written and presented a series of programmes on ''Churchill's Other Lives''. He has been active in attempts to reform and improve the history curriculum in the United Kingdom. He also often contributes to contemporary discussions on the present-day
British monarchy.
Currently, Cannadine serves as a member of the
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government o ...
Banknote Character Advisory Committee; he is a trustee of the Rothschild Archive, the Gordon Brown Archive and
Gladstone's Library
Gladstone's Library, known until 2010 as St Deiniol's Library ( cy, Llyfrgell Deiniol Sant), is a residential library in Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales. It is a Grade I listed building and a registered charity.
Gladstone's Library is Britain's ...
; and of the Library of Birmingham Development Trust, the Royal Academy Trust, Historic Royal Palaces and the
Wolfson Foundation. He is also 168th president of
The Birmingham & Midland Institute, a vice-president of the
Victorian Society, vice-chairman of the Westminster Abbey Fabric Commission, and of the editorial board of ''
Past & Present'' and president of the Friends of the
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...
.
Honours and distinctions
Cannadine has been elected a Fellow of the
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history.
Origins
The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...
(1981), a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
(1998), a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...
(1999), a Fellow of the
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...
(1999), and a Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries (2005). He has been awarded the Lionel Trilling Prize (1991) and the Dean's Distinguished Award in the Humanities (1996) by Columbia University, the Dickinson Medal by the
Newcomen Society (2003), the Minerva Medal of the
Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow (2013), the
Norton Medlicott Medal of the
Historical Association (2013), and the Blenheim Award of the
International Churchill Society (2016).
Cannadine holds
honorary degrees from the
London South Bank University (2001), the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
(2001), the
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
(2002), the
University of Worcester (2011),
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...
(2016), the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...
(2017), the
University of Leicester
, mottoeng = So that they may have life
, established =
, type = public research university
, endowment = £20.0 million
, budget = £326 million
, chancellor = David Willetts
, vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah
, head_lab ...
(2019) and
Queen's University, Belfast (2020). He is also an Honorary Fellow of the
Institute of Historical Research (2005),
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...
(2005), the Historical Association (2011), and
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...
(2012) and an Honorary Churchill Fellow of
Westminster College,
Fulton, Missouri (2012).
He was
knighted for "services to scholarship" in 2009.
More recently, in April 2018 Cannadine was elected an international honorary member of the
American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He was elected a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 2019.
Personal life
Cannadine is married to fellow historian
Linda Colley.
Even history holds no solace
/ref>
Publications
* ''Lords and Landlords: The Aristocracy and the Towns, 1774–1967'' (1980)
* ''Patricians, Power and Politics in Nineteenth-century Towns'' (1982) (editor)
* Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat': Winston Churchill's Famous Speeches'' (1989) (editor)
* ''The Pleasures of the Past'' (1989)
* ''The First Modern Society: Essays in English History in Honour of Lawrence Stone'' (1989) (editor) (with A.L. Beier and James Rosenheim)
* ''The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy'' (1990)
* ''G.M. Trevelyan
George Macaulay Trevelyan (16 February 1876 – 21 July 1962) was a British historian and academic. He was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1898 to 1903. He then spent more than twenty years as a full-time author. He returned to the ...
: A Life in History'' (1992)
* ''Aspects of Aristocracy: Grandeur and Decline in Modern Britain'' (1994)
* ''The Rise and Fall of Class in Britain'' (1998)
* ''History in Our Time'' (1998)
* '' Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire'' (2001)
* ''In Churchill's Shadow: Confronting the Past in Modern Britain'' (2002)
* ''What Is History Now?'' (2002) (editor)
* ''History and the Media'' (2004) (editor)
* ''Churchill in the Twenty-First Century'' (2004) (editor) (with Roland Quinault)
* ''Admiral Lord Nelson
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...
: Context and Legacy'' (2005) (editor)
* ''Gunpowder Plots: A Celebration of 400 Years of Bonfire Night'' (jointly 2005)
* '' Trafalgar: A Battle and its Afterlife'' (2006) (editor)
* '' Mellon: An American Life'' (2006)
* ''Empire, the Sea and Global History: Britain's Maritime World 1763–1833'' (2007) (editor)
* '' National Portrait Gallery: A Brief History'' (2007)
* ''Empire, the Sea and Global History: Britain's Maritime World, c.1763–1840'' (2007) (editor)
* ''Making History Now and Then: Discoveries, Controversies and Explorations'' (2008)
* ''History and Philanthropy: Past, Present and Future'' (2008) (editor) (with Jill Pellew)
* ''The Thirty Year Rule'' (jointly, 2009)
* ''The Right Kind of History: Teaching the Past in Twentieth-Century England'' (2011) (with Jenny Keating and Nicola Sheldon)
* ''The Undivided Past: History Beyond Our Differences'' (2013)
* ''George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother ...
'' (Penguin Monarchs series) (2014)
* ''Heroic Chancellor: Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
and Bristol University
, mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'')
, established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter
, type ...
'' (2015)
* ''Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
: A Life and Legacy'' (2017)
* '' Victorious Century: The United Kingdom, 1800–1906'' ( Penguin History of Britain) (2018)
* ''The Country House: Past, Present and Future'' (2018) (editor) (with Jeremy Musson
Jeremy Musson (born London, 1965) is an English author, editor and presenter, specialising in British country houses and architecture.
Career
Musson was an architectural writer on '' Country Life'' magazine from 1995 to 1998, and its Architectur ...
)
* ''Why Collect Now? A Report on the State of Museums and of Collecting'' (2019)
* ''Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
: A Church in History'' (2019) (editor)
* ''A Question of Retribution?: The British Academy and the Matter of Anthony Blunt'' (2020) (editor)
Footnotes
External links
Official webpage
Directory
of Fellows of the British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...
''Debrett's People of Today''
"Embracing Complexity - A Conversation with David Cannadine"
''Ideas Roadshow'', 2015
''The Telegraph'', 2005
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannadine, David
1950 births
Living people
People from Birmingham, West Midlands
Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge
Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge
Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge
Columbia University faculty
Princeton University faculty
Academics of the University of London
Fellows of the British Academy
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Fellows of the Royal Historical Society
Dictionary of National Biography
Knights Bachelor
People educated at King Edward VI Five Ways
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London