Professor Peter Mandler FBA

Modern British history, especially cultural, intellectual and social; the histories of the humanities and social sciences in comparative perspective

Elected 2015

Peter Mandler is Professor of Modern Cultural History at Cambridge University and Bailey Fellow in History at Gonville and Caius College. His research spans the cultural, social and intellectual history of modern Britain and the histories of the humanities and social sciences in comparative perspective. In the past he has written on ideas of heritage, national history and national character in England, and on the history of the social sciences in Britain and the United States. He is currently directing a project on the experience of universal secondary education in the UK since 1945, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. His current interests in the history of education and educational policy stem in part from work he has done representing the interests of history and historians in the public sphere, as President of the Royal Historical Society (2012-16), Chair of the Academy's Modern History Section (2018-21), and President of the Historical Association (2020-23).

10-Minute Talks: The crisis of the meritocracy

30 Sep 2020 Professor Peter Mandler FBA

Professor Peter Mandler FBA talks about his new book 'The Crisis of the Meritocracy' and Britain's transition to mass education from WWII onwards.

Current post

University of Cambridge Professor of Modern Cultural History

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Bailey Lecturer in History

Publications

The British Academy 10-Minute Talks: The crisis of the meritocracy - why Britain has needed more and more education

30 Sep 2020 The British Academy on YouTube

Peter Mandler talks about his new book 'The Crisis of the Meritocracy' and Britain's transition to mass education from WWII onwards.

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