Department of International History, LSE

Department of International History, LSE LSE's Department of International History teaches and conducts research on the international history

LSE's Department of International History teaches and conducts research on the international history of Britain, Europe and the world from the early modern era up to the present day. The department encourages debate and discussion of past events and historical controversies. Within an international framework its members explore such major subjects as the causes and conduct of wars; the crafting of

peace settlements; the development of societies over time and their transnational connections; the emergence of empires and their governance; the rise of nationalism; the interactions between the state and religious beliefs; colonialism and decolonization; civil wars and insurgencies; the world wars of the twentieth century; and the development and ramifications of the Cold War. With a permanent academic staff of 27, around 190 postgraduate students, and 300 undergraduates, we are a large, diverse and welcoming Department, whose members are drawn from all over the world. We are committed to academic excellence and providing an absorbing learning environment for all our students, who we aim to give the fullest possible opportunity to fulfil their full potential. The Department of International has performed impressively in several recent university league tables. The QS World University History Subject Table for 2019 ranks History at LSE 6th overall in the world and one of 3 UK and European universities in the top 10.

The Sceptic Isle by Professor Steven Casey has been published today by Oxford University Press. His book is a bold new r...
27/08/2026

The Sceptic Isle by Professor Steven Casey has been published today by Oxford University Press. His book is a bold new reinterpretation of the British experience in World War II, which challenges the widely held notion that this was a “People’s War” in which the population kept calm and carried on.

As well as the Sunday Times review, which calls it an “impressive and persuasive book”, The Sceptic Isle has received the following rave reviews:

The Daily Mail: “Steven Casey has produced a brilliant and richly detailed study, deeply thought-provoking, of how narratives of the war were shaped and presented; how the public was psychologically manipulated, massaged and fooled”.

The Daily Telegraph: “A thoroughly researched and sometimes surprising study”, which demonstrates how “the British war effort was all the stronger for the democratic questioning that was sparked by scepticism - 4 stars”.

Jeremy Black (historian), forthcoming: “In this fascinating book, Steven Casey draws on very extensive research in archives and a wide range of printed primaries, in order to consider morale-management in Britain and, notably, the ‘propaganda war.’… The case is well made … an excellent work.”

See here for a link to Professor Casey’s new book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-sceptic-isle-9780197781876?cc=gb&lang=en&

How did anyone survive the trenches of the Western Front and find the will to keep fighting? That is the question at the...
20/08/2026

How did anyone survive the trenches of the Western Front and find the will to keep fighting?

That is the question at the heart of a new chapter by Dr Alex Mayhew in The Cambridge Companion to the Western Front, edited by Nick Lloyd and published by Cambridge University Press.

Drawing on soldiers’ own diaries and letters from across the British, French, German, Belgian and American armies, Alex’s chapter explores what really sustained morale: good food and rest, leadership, comradeship, and above all, hope – soldiers’ belief in a lasting peace and a future worth enduring for. It’s an resilience in the face of almost unimaginable conditions.

This is just one contribution to a landmark volume marking why the Western Front still fascinates, horrifies, and moves us more than a century on.

Find a copy of the book here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-cambridge-companion-to-the-western-front/nick-lloyd/9781009553759

Ninety years ago, in his only foreign-policy speech of the 1936 campaign, Franklin Roosevelt emphasised how much he hate...
12/08/2026

Ninety years ago, in his only foreign-policy speech of the 1936 campaign, Franklin Roosevelt emphasised how much he hated war. Harking back to his brief tour of the Western Front in 1918, his Chautauqua speech both reflected and reinforced the overwhelming pacifist consensus inside the United States at the time.

Professor Casey’s article, which details the speech's reception against the backdrop of the N**i Olympics in Berlin and the start of the Spanish Civil War, showcases his next book project, provisionally titled The End of Isolation: The Creation of the Interventionist Consensus in America, 1936-1941.

Read the article here: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/1936s-promise-peace-roosevelt-campaign

In a new blog post, the International History Blog spoke to Frank W. Garmon Jr about his book ‘A Wonderful Career in Cr...
11/08/2026

In a new blog post, the International History Blog spoke to Frank W. Garmon Jr about his book ‘A Wonderful Career in Crime: Charles Cowlam’s Masquerades in the Civil War Era & Gilded Age.’

Garmon's book looks at the confidence man in American politics. We usually think of swindlers and con men as operating in the realm of business, but government officials respond to the same incentives and are susceptible to the same deceptions as private actors. Charles Cowlam was remarkable for his ability to convince gullible public officials to go along with his schemes.

The book also reveals how easy it was for someone in the nineteenth century to blend in to new surroundings. Americans during this period were very transient, and Cowlam was a master at taking advantage of the anonymity that this transience provided.

Read the full blog post here: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseih/2026/08/06/criminality-confidence-and-corruption-in-the-gilded-age-an-interview-with-frank-w-garmon-jr/

Professor Steven Casey’s new book, The Sceptic Isle, has been reviewed very positively in the Sunday Times. Under the ti...
11/08/2026

Professor Steven Casey’s new book, The Sceptic Isle, has been reviewed very positively in the Sunday Times.

Under the title ‘Who Do You Think You are Kidding’, the Sunday Times calls The Sceptic Isle an ‘impressive and persuasive book’, which challenges much of ’the folk memory’ about the Second World War.

The Sceptic Isle is due to be published by Oxford University Press on 27 August 2026:
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-sceptic-isle-9780197781876?cc=gb&lang=en&

It is already available to listen to on Audible: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-Sceptic-Isle-Audiobook/B0GVTNS4V7

and Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6OuQHlIDwnky1tLnV1Wk7c

Department alumus, The Rt Hon Matthew Pennycook MP, has been reinstated as Minister of State (Minister for Housing and P...
05/08/2026

Department alumus, The Rt Hon Matthew Pennycook MP, has been reinstated as Minister of State (Minister for Housing and Planning) by Prime Minister Andy Burnham

The new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, took office on 20 July 2026 and has now appointed his government, featuring several LSE alumni as secretaries of state and ministers

Matthew Pennycook completed his BSc in International Relations and History in 2005 and has been the MP for Greenwich and Woolwich since 2015.

The International History Blog has published a new interview with Obbie Tyler Todd entitled ‘The Beechers and the Making...
03/08/2026

The International History Blog has published a new interview with Obbie Tyler Todd entitled ‘The Beechers and the Making of Nineteenth-Century America’.

In this Q&A, we spoke with Obbie Tyler Todd, Adjunct Professor of Church History at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Pastor of Teaching and Theology at Cross Community Church in Beaufort, South Carolina. Professor Todd told us about about the religious lives of the Beechers – one of the most important families of the nineteenth-century United States – and his upcoming projects.

Read the blog here: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseih/2026/08/01/the-beechers-and-the-making-of-nineteenth-century-america-a-qa-with-obbie-tyler-todd/

LSE-Yale Seminar in Contemporary International History - Call for Papers.The LSE-Yale Seminar in Contemporary Internatio...
31/07/2026

LSE-Yale Seminar in Contemporary International History - Call for Papers.

The LSE-Yale Seminar in Contemporary International History—a joint seminar between the LSE International History Department and the Department of History at Yale University—invites proposals for the 2026-2027 academic year.

The seminar welcomes scholars who are close to submitting their PhD or have completed it to share work-in-progress on any aspect of international history of the long 20th century, broadly defined. We encourage a wide range of different approaches including research exploring transnational networks, non-state actors, and geographies beyond the Global North. The seminar is open to post-PhD scholars at all stages of their career.

Presenters will be asked to submit a 15-20 page paper ten days before their presentation. During the seminar, presenters will introduce their work for no more than 15 minutes followed by comments from a discussant and wider Q&A discussion.
All seminars will be hybrid—both in-person in London and New Haven as well as on Zoom—normally on Thursdays from 5pm in London and 12pm in New Haven.

Applicants are welcome to join us in London, New Haven, or online.
Applicants should submit a provisional title, a brief 250-word abstract, and a CV to [email protected] by August 28, 2026.

Organisers: Tanya Harmer, Piers Ludlow (LSE International History) and Laura Robson (Department of History, Yale University).

Victoria Jones joined Al Jazeera's INSIDE STORY to speak about the current unrest in Pakistan-administered Kashmir amid ...
31/07/2026

Victoria Jones joined Al Jazeera's INSIDE STORY to speak about the current unrest in Pakistan-administered Kashmir amid the ongoing elections there, including the killing of civilian protesters and the implications of these developments for Pakistan's long-standing narrative on the Kashmir issue.

Watch the story here: https://aje.news/ay9t4n

Dr Ron Po's book, 'Shaping the Blue Dragon', has seen new glowing reviews by both the American Historical Review and The...
28/07/2026

Dr Ron Po's book, 'Shaping the Blue Dragon', has seen new glowing reviews by both the American Historical Review and The English Historical Review.

Reviewers describe it as "a welcome addition to the series of books and articles written by Ron Po on the subject of China's sustained engagement with the maritime world from the 1360s to the 1820s" and as one that "offers a compelling narrative of how Han Confucian intellectuals developed a 'maritime consciousness' within the cosmopolitan framework of the Manchu empire."

Find a link to his book here: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781835537435

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