J.M. Ward Memorial Lecture | Christopher Clark (Cambridge)

Professor Christopher Clark (Cambridge) | 5:00pm doors for 5:30pm start.

Viewed on a calendar or a timeline, the events and the people of history seem to recede from us, growing ever more distant. But the truth is that we have a non-linear relationship with the past. There are moments when a history that seemed finished and locked into the past suddenly moves into our vicinity. In this talk, I reflect on the present-day relevance of nineteenth-century European history and of the revolutions that rocked the European continent in 1848.

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Professor Christopher Clark's research interests are centred on the history of nineteenth-century Germany and continental Europe. His books include Iron Kingdom: the Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600-1947 (2006), which won the Wolfson Prize for History, and The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 (2012), which won the LA Times Book Prize (History) in 2013. In September 2014, he succeeded Richard Evans as the Regius Professor of History at the University of Cambridge. He was made Knight Bachelor in the 2015 birthday honours list for services to British-German relations. His most recent publication is revolutionary-spring-9780141988313.

About the lecture: The Ward Lecture commemorates John Manning Ward, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 1981 to 1990 and Challis Professor of History for three decades before that. The Ward Lecture has long been an important event for the history community at the University of Sydney. Traditionally a biennial event, the Ward Lecture was deferred during the pandemic, and we are delighted to welcome Sir Chris Clark as the first Ward Lecturer for more than five years.’

Venue

The Sibyl Centre

The Women's College, Western Avenue