Richard John Toye FRHistS (born 1973) is a British historian and academic. He is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. He was previously a Fellow and Director of Studies for History at Homerton College, University of Cambridge, from 2002 to 2007, and before that he taught at University of Manchester from 2000.

Richard Toye
Born1973 (age 50–51)
Cambridge, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationHistorian
ParentJohn Toye[2]
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
University of Birmingham
University of Manchester
ThesisThe Labour Party and the planned economy 1931-1951 (1999)
Doctoral advisorPeter Clarke[1]
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Exeter

Early life

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Toye was born in 1973[3] in Cambridge, but subsequently moved to Swansea and then to Hove, Sussex. He took a BA in history and then an MPhil at the University of Birmingham. He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree by the University of Cambridge in 1999.[3] His doctoral thesis was titled "The Labour Party and the planned economy 1931-1951".[4]

Biography

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His book Lloyd George and Churchill: Rivals for Greatness was the winner of the Times Higher Young Academic Author of the Year Award in 2007.[5] It received widespread critical acclaim from a number of newspaper reviews for its "nuanced" approach.[6][7] One of the judges, June Purvis, professor of women's and gender history at Portsmouth University, said:

This is an extremely readable, lively book that explores the complex personal and political relationship between two great male politicians who helped to shape 20th-century Britain. The changing shades and hues of their relationship are documented in fascinating detail.

He has written extensively on Winston Churchill: his book Churchill's Empire: The World that Made Him and the World He Made[8] was critically acclaimed. His most recent book on Churchill is Winston Churchill: A Life in the News in 2020. In late 2018, he appeared in the documentary Churchill's mistress discussing the fate of Dora, Lady Castlerosse broadcast on Yesterday television.[9] He also spoke about Churchill's legacy on the occasion of his statue being defaced in London in 2020,[10] and also on the changing relationship between Churchill and the media landscape in which he lived.[11]

Toye has also written on Rhetoric[12] and on the birth of modern Britain[13] in the first major study of the post war Attlee government to be published since 1997.

At Exeter he specialises in teaching and researching Churchill and all aspects of party politics during the period of the Third British Empire.[14] Commensurate with his role as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society he was one of the signatories to a letter that strongly defended the Historical Association: government attempts to depoliticise the teaching profession have been largely unsuccessful.[15]

Books

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As sole author

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Co-written volumes

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  • with David Thackeray, Age of Promises: Electoral Pledges in Twentieth Century Britain (Oxford University Press, 2021).
  • with Julia Gottlieb and Daniel Hucker, The Munich Crisis, Politics and the People: International, Transnational and Comparative Perspectives (Cultural History in Modern War series) (Manchester University Press, 2021).
  • with David Thackeray, Electoral Pledges in Britain Since 1918: The Politics of Promises (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020).
  • with Steven Fielding and Bill Schwarz, The Churchill Myths (Oxford University Press, 2020).
  • with David Thackeray and Andrew Thompson, Imagining Britain's Economic Future, c.1800–1975: Trade, Consumerism, and Global Markets (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).
  • with John A. Hargreaves and Keith Laybourn, Liberal Reform and Industrial Relations: J.H. Whitley (1866-1935), Halifax Radical and Speaker of the House of Commons (Routledge Studies in Modern British History series) (Routledge, 2017).
  • with Martin Thomas, Arguing About Empire: Imperial Rhetoric in Britain and France, 1882-1956 (Oxford University Press, 2017).
  • with Martin Thomas, Rhetorics of Empire: Languages of Colonial Conflict after 1900 (Studies in Imperialism series) (Manchester University Press, 2017).
  • with Andrew Thorpe, Parliament and Politics in the Age of Asquith and Lloyd George: The Diaries of Cecil Harmsworth MP, 1909–22 (Camden Fifth Series, Series Number 50) (Royal Historical Society/Cambridge University Press, 2016).
  • with Julie Gottlieb, The Aftermath of Suffrage: Women, Gender, and Politics in Britain, 1918-1945 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).
  • with Julie Gottlieb, Making Reputations: Power, Persuasion and the Individual in Modern British Politics (I.B. Tauris, 2005).
  • with John Toye, The UN and Global Political Economy: Trade, Finance and Development (Indiana University Press, 2004)

Academic publications

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  • "The Rhetorical Culture of the House of Commons after 1918", History: The Journal of the Historical Association, 99 (335), 270–298.
  • "Keynes, Liberalism, and The Emancipation of the Mind", The English Historical Review, cev215-cev215.

References

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  1. ^ Toye, Richard (2003). The Labour Party and the Planned Economy, 1931–1951. Cambridge University Press. p. ix. ISBN 9781846151002.
  2. ^ Mosley, Paul (28 December 2021). "John Toye obituary". the Guardian.
  3. ^ a b "Richard Toye". RCW Literary Agency. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  4. ^ Toye, Richard John (1999). "The Labour Party and the planned economy 1931-1951". E-Thesis Online Service. The British Library Board.
  5. ^ "Young academic author of the year - Richard Toye, College lecturer". Times Higher Education. 26 November 2007.
  6. ^ John Campbell (18 April 2007). "The friendship between the 20th century's two political titans". Daily Telegraph.
  7. ^ "The wary respect of mutual admirers". Times Higher Education. May 2007.
  8. ^ published by Macmillan, 2010.
  9. ^ "Churchill's secret affair". Channel 4 News.
  10. ^ "Winston Churchill: Hero or Villain?". BBC News. 10 June 2020.
  11. ^ Richard Toye on Churchill's Life in the News (episode 5). Oxford Academic. 5 August 2020.
  12. ^ Hari, Johann (12 August 2010). "The Two Churchills". The New York Times.
  13. ^ Roger Liddle (17 November 2023). "Review: Richard Toye's Age of Hope". Progressive Britain.
  14. ^ "Professor Richard Toye". History. University of Exeter.
  15. ^ "In defence of The Historical Association". 14 May 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
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