Fischerites, Revisionists and Brexiteers: The 1914 debate revisited

Seminar with Sir Christopher Clark this Wednesday at 5.30pm.

Regius Professor of History Sir Christopher Clark will address the Public & Popular History seminar series in Sidney Sussex this Wednesday. The talk is at 5.30pm in the Mong Hall.

His magisterial account of the origins of the First World War, Sleepwalkers, was received with rapturous acclaim, in both the academy and the wider media, upon its publication on the eve of the centenary of the war's outbreak. Especially in Germany the resonance was remarkable: it quickly became a best seller, and book presentations sold out at record speed. Clark's apparently revisionist take on the 'war guilt' issue seemed to strike a chord with the wider public. At the same time, public debate in Britain about the 'worthiness' of WWI suggested that the war's link to collective identities remains undiminished on this side of the Channel too. In this talk, the Regius Professor will give us a 'behind the scenes' insight into his experiences of the reception of his work, and the sometimes absurd interdependencies between academic history, the mass media, and politics.

The Public & Popular History seminar series is organised by a team that includes Sidney Sussex Fellow in History Dr Bernhard Fulda.  For more information please visit the Faculty of History website.