I’m pleased to be presenting on my book and current works in progress at the first Deakin Cultural Heritage seminar of the semester on 31 July 2019. The seminar title is “Ideal landscapes, planning and heritage in postwar British culture”, and the abstract as follows: While Britain’s postwar planned landscapes, including modernist urban redevelopments and … More Deakin Cultural Heritage seminar, 31 July 2019
I reviewed two excellent books for History Australia journal this summer and the review has just gone to print in the latest issue. Seamus O’Hanlon‘s City Life: The New Urban Australia (NewSouth, 2018) and Ben Schrader’s The Big Smoke: New Zealand Cities, 1840–1920 (Bridget Williams Books, 2016) were interesting to read in dialogue with each … More Review published: Urban histories of the nation and beyond in Australia and New Zealand
I’m excited to announce that my first book, Milton Keynes in British Culture: Imagining England, has been published by Routledge as part of their series Routledge Studies in Modern British History. The publisher page can be found here, and a free preview is available via Google Books. The publisher’s description can be found here: The … More New book: Milton Keynes in British Culture
After being stuck in Sydney Airport for an extra day courtesy of bizarre weather, I’ve finally returned from the 2018 Historical Materialism Sydney conference. It was a fantastically invigorating conference, and a very refreshing opportunity to think through important questions with a diverse audience. My paper was entitled “Wars on Brutalism: concrete modernism and imperialist heritage … More Historical Materialism Sydney 2018
I’m very excited that my journal article ‘“We’re full”: Capacity, Finitude, and British Landscapes, 1945‐1979’ has been published today in the Australian Journal of Politics and History. This article synthesises ideas from two conference papers; one I presented at a collaborative symposium between the University of Melbourne, University of Glasgow, and University of Tianjin on … More New journal article: ‘“We’re full”: Capacity, Finitude, and British Landscapes, 1945‐1979’
My local polling place for elections in Melbourne is All Saints Parish Hall, which has an excellent charity shop. It’s become a tradition to spend some time going through their excellent book collection after I’ve voted. I’ve bought quite a few E.P. Thompson and Raymond Williams books from them over the years, and after voting … More Urban history ephemera: a London A-Z turns up in Westgarth
My 1980s British badge collection has been continuing to grow. Recent acquisitions include a number of general political badges from a single collection in Northamptonshire. These appear to be from between the 1983 election and 1986 – “Save Jobs: Sack the Tories,” “I didn’t vote Tory”, and a “save the GLC” badge. Possibly these could … More Historical lapels: 1980s politics edition
As a gift to myself for completing my PhD, I bought a collection of 1980s badges from eBay. They all came from one collector, whose interests mixed political activism and local heritage preservation in the Northamptonshire area. I rather like theming my lapels to what I’m reading or teaching on a particular day (or to … More Historical lapels: Milton Keynes edition
I have a long list of bookmarked eBay listings of Milton Keynes historical ephemera which I try to collect when funds allow. Most of my Milton Keynes postcards are unused, however this one I purchased for its photo montage of the Shopping Building had been used by a local resident. The Shopping Building opened in … More Milton Keynes ephemera: postcards from the 1980s
