Oxford’s War: University and City, 1939–45

About the event

What happened in Oxford during World War II? How did it impact the city, the University and its people?

Visiting colleges and University buildings as well as Oxford's streets, shops, and factories, this talk explains the role played by the city and its famous seat of learning during the Second World War, and examines the conflict's impact upon the city, the university, and its people.

Speakers

Ashley Jackson is Professor of Imperial and Military History at King’s College London and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College Oxford. He completed his MSt and DPhil at Oxford in 1996, and since then has authored and edited 17 books on the history of Britain, the history of the British Empire and the history of the two world wars. Titles have included The British Empire and the Second World War (2005), Mad Dogs and Englishmen: A Grand Tour of the British Empire at its Height (2008), Churchill (2011), Buildings of Empire (2013), The British Empire: A Very Short Introduction (2013), Persian Gulf Command: Iran and Iraq in the Second World War (2018), and (with Andrew Stewart) Superpower Britain: The 1945 Vision and Why it Failed (2025). His work with Bodleian Library Publishing has included (with David Tomkins) Illustrating Empire: A Visual History of British Imperialism (2011) and Oxford’s War, 1939–45 (2024), and a chapter in Julie Anne Lambert’s The Art of Advertising (2020).

Booking information

You can attend this event in person at the Weston Library or online via Zoom. The event is free and open to all but booking is required.

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For more information email fob@bodleian.ox.ac.uk