RHS Presidential Lecture: Professor Lucy Noakes, In Person

6 pm GMT, Friday 22 November 2024, In person

Brewer and Smith Hall, Mary Ward House, 5-7 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SN Map

This lecture will be preceded by the Annual General Meeting of the Royal Historical Society (18:00-18:10).

To register to attend online, please see here.

Why does the Second World War continue to have such a hold over the popular imagination in early 21st century Britain? From Brexit to Covid, sporting competitions to environmental disasters, many public events are understood through reference to the Second World War and in particular the ‘signal events’ of 1940: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. Unlike the First World War, the memory of this second conflict is largely positive, focused on an imagined past in which people came together in adversity, overcoming the divisions of social class, political belief, and economics that had so divided 1930s Britain to defeat- against the odds – a powerful and ambitious enemy. In short, the Second World War is still widely remembered as Britain’s ‘finest hour’.

In this talk, Lucy Noakes will outline the history of this memory and argue that it has a particular resonance in times of turmoil and instability. Looking back at the ways Mass Observers were beginning to construct a memory of the war as it came to an end, in similarly uncertain times, this talk explores the ways in which people make use of the past in order to understand their presents.

is incoming President of the Royal Historical Society (November 20424) and Professor of History at the University of Essex. Her research focuses on social and cultural history of early to mid 20th century Britain, with a particular interest in the experiences and memories of those who experienced the First and Second World Wars.

Her most recent publication is entitled (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023). She is also the author of (Manchester University Press, 2020), which won the Social History Society Book Prize in 2022, and an edited collection entitled (OUP, 2020), which considers 'sentimentality' and war memories.

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Mary Ward House Conference Centre, Tavistock Place, London, United Kingdom