Gareth John Darwin (born 29 June 1948) is a British historian and academic, who specialises in the history of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. From 1984 to 2019, he was the Beit Lecturer in Commonwealth History 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 ...

and a Fellow of

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer c ...

.Anon (2017) He was a lecturer in history at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

between 1972 and 1984.

Early life and education

Darwin was born on 29 June 1948 in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Devon, England. He was educated at Brockenhurst Grammar School, a mixed-sex

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Brockenhurst Brockenhurst is the largest village by population within the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The nearest city is Southampton some to the North East, while Bournemouth is also nearby, South West. Surrounding towns and villages include Beaul ...

, Hampshire. He studied 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 ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA Oxon) degree. He later undertook

postgraduate research Postgraduate research represents a formal area of study that is recognized by a university or institute of higher learning. By definition, the notion of “postgraduate” (United States) carries the implication that the candidate undertaking such ...

, and completed his

Doctor of Philosophy 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 ...

degree in 1978 on the coalition government of

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

and Britain's imperial policy in Egypt and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

between 1918 and 1922.

Career

From 1972 to 1984, Darwin was a lecturer in history at the

. In 1984, he moved to 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 ...

where he had been appointed the Beit Lecturer in the History of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the C ...

. That year, he was also elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

. 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 The University of Oxford introduced Titles of Distinction for senior academics in the 1990s. These are not established chairs, which are posts funded by endowment for academics with a distinguished career in British and European universities. Howev ...

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 The Wolfson History Prizes are literary awards given annually in the United Kingdom to promote and encourage standards of excellence in the writing of history for the general public. Prizes are given annually for two or three exceptional works ...

for his book ''After Tamerlane: The Global History of Empire since 1405''. In 2012, he was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # ...

(FBA). He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darwin, John Gareth 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