Dominic Sandbrook
Dominic Christopher Sandbrook is a British historian, author, columnist, podcaster, and television presenter. He has written many popular history books as well as articles in newspapers, presented history shows on BBC Television and Radio, and since 2020 co-hosts The Rest is History podcast with the historian and author Tom Holland.
Early life and education
Dominic Christopher Sandbrook was born in October 1974 in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. He was educated at Malvern College, then an all-boys independent school in Worcestershire.He studied history and French at Balliol College, Oxford. He then studied for a Master of Letters degree in history at the University of St Andrews and a Doctor of Philosophy degree at Jesus College, Cambridge. His doctoral thesis, "The political career of Senator Eugene McCarthy", was completed in 2002.
Academia
Previously a lecturer in history at the University of Sheffield, Sandbrook has been a senior fellow of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford and a member of its history faculty. He was a visiting professor at King's College London, and a freelance writer and newspaper columnist. In 2007 he was named one of Waterstones' 25 Authors for the Future. In July 2021 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.Writing career and reception
Books
''Eugene McCarthy'' (2004)
Sandbrook's first book was a biography of the United States presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy.The historian David Stebenne gave it a mixed review, writing that "Although Sandbrook's book describes McCarthy's life and work with outstanding grace and clarity, using him as a vehicle to explain the odyssey of American liberalism since World War II poses some problems". The historian Doug Rossinow was more positive, writing that "This is a very fine account in many ways, very skillfully written and exhaustively researched. Eugene McCarthy is an excellent and provocative work, one I heartily recommend". Both David Stebenne and Jennifer Delton particularly praised the initial sections of the book on McCarthy's early career and formative influences. Delton wrote that “While the author does a great job of tying the early McCarthy to his historical moment, he is less successful in doing the same with the later McCarthy"
McCarthy himself told journalists that he "liked the early part of the book, which described his early life as a college professor and his early battles in Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor politics" but disliked the later sections. McCarthy said that "What Sandbrook writes about the early years is pretty good, but every page after the first 50 is trash", calling the book "almost libellous".
''Never Had It So Good'' (2005)
In 2005 Sandbrook published Never Had It So Good, a history of Britain from the Suez Crisis to the Beatles, 1956–63. It received mixed reviews.The historian Jim Tomlinson wrote that Sandbrook was "inclined to a rather unreflective declinism" in the work and criticised the lack of a serious analysis of Macmillan's 'Never Had it So Good' speech which gave the book its title, but nonetheless commended the "breadth of coverage of social and cultural issues". In his review Anthony Howard criticised some of the characterisations of politicians but overall described Never Had it so Good as a "rich treasure chest of a book", writing of his "respect for the sweep and scope of the author's knowledge". The historian Arthur Marwick criticised the book, writing that it worked as an introduction to the period and a "compendium of references", but failed to produce any novel, original research. Marwick wrote that "The book has little structure, no sense of movement through time, and certainly fails to make the author's much-advertised case".
''White Heat'' (2006)
The sequel, White Heat, covering the years 1964–70 and the rise and fall of Harold Wilson's Labour government, was published in August 2006. Many reviewers commented on the breadth of the book.The historian Peter Clarke praised the book's comprehensiveness. Even while in Clarke's view Sandbrook sometimes flitted between topics, Clarke wrote that "this is history of a commendably inclusive range...There is something for everybody." He particularly praised the sections of the book on George Brown. Vernon Bogdanor wrote that the book was a good introduction to the period, but was more critical: "It seeks to be comprehensive, covering not just politics, but the arts, social trends, fashion and popular culture. But it does not dig very deep." Leo McKinstry in The Times wrote that "Sandbrook's book could hardly be more impressive in its scope", "He writes with authority and an eye for telling detail." James Buchan observed, "For all the charm of Dominic Sandbrook's book, with its minute anatomy of social forms and brilliant parade of charlatans and fools, it is hard not to feel that somehow time has not been well used."
Unlike some historians of the 1960s, Sandbrook argues it was marked by conservatism and conformity. His books attempt to debunk what he sees as myths associated with the period, from the sexual revolution to student protest, and he challenges the "cultural revolution" thesis associated with historians like Arthur Marwick. Charles Shaar Murray, writing in The Independent, called Sandbrook "the Hoodie Historian" and imagined him "slouching into shot while throwing whatever passes for gang signs in the history department of the University of Sheffield, and announcing to Arthur Marwick, Jonathon Green et al. that 'You is all mi bitches nuh.'"
In November 2009 it was named by The ''Telegraph'' as "one of the books that defined the Noughties".
''State of Emergency'' (2010)
Sandbrook continued the history of postwar Britain with State of Emergency, covering the period 1970–74, and Seasons in the Sun, which took the story up to the election of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in 1979.Many reviewers praised the portrait painted of Ted Heath in the book and the narrative of the political events and crises of the period. D.J. Taylor wrote approvingly of the book's analysis of the "renewed love-affair with an idealised national past" that marked a "cultural tendency of the early 1970s".
David Edgar, who had previously written a sustained critique of Sandbrook's analysis of literature in his early books, had a more positive review, writing that "State of Emergency is kinder to the artistic life of the 1970s, praising its literature, noting the excellence of its television drama... a golden period for the theatre...on the wider cultural front, there is evidence that he has mellowed".
The literary critic Sean O'Brien criticised State of Emergency for over-simplification, writing that "Matters were more complex and varied socially than Sandbrook has space or perhaps inclination to suggest. Those of an age to test memory against his account will naturally dispute some of his emphases". O'Brien pointed out Sandbrook's failure to analyse 1970s subcultures, the impact of Motown and Black British music, and the impact of Marxist ideas in sufficient depth.
The historian James Cronin, while largely praising the political narrative, similarly criticised Sandbrook's analyses of sub-cultures and social movements, writing that the book was overly-dismissive of the novelty and creativity of the sub-cultures of the era: it "does not help that Sandbrook is so ready to judge, so moralistic in his assessments. He clearly lacks sympathy for the groups and people whose claims were so central to the moment"
''Mad as Hell'' (2011)
In 2011, before he had finished his book series about Britain, Sandbrook published Mad as Hell about American populism in the 1970s, discussing cultural influences such as disco, the Ford and Carter presidencies, Bruce Springsteen and the Dallas Cowboys. In The Wall Street Journal, Michael C. Moynihan identified several sentence fragments that had been closely paraphrased from sources, which he considered plagiarism. Moynihan later said he was surprised Sandbrook had not suffered serious career repercussions. Sandbrook rejected the allegations and maintained that he "footnoted his sources, and if popular history books sometimes sound familiar that is because there are only so many ways to say things".''Seasons in the Sun'' (2012)
The historian Peter Clarke gave Seasons in the Sun a mixed review. Clarke criticised Sandbrook's poor handling of statistics, but complimented the book on its combination of popular culture and politics, writing that Seasons in the Sun showed the author "notably comfortable with the idioms of the popular culture of the 1970s, which receive full scrutiny in many of the chapters. These are skilfully juxtaposed with other sections chronicling high politics with a similarly shrewd appreciation of the telling detail or the revealing anecdote." Clarke particularly praised how the political narrative was "shown in graphic detail by Sandbrook, mining with telling effect the copious diaries left by Labour insiders... in particular, Bernard Donoughue".''Who Dares Wins'' (2019)
A fifth volume, Who Dares Wins, covering the period 1979–1982, was published in October 2019. Ewan Gibbs, a historian of de-industrialisation, while positive about certain aspects of the book, also had criticisms, writing that in his view Sandbrook wrongly "presents Thatcherism as the only feasible route" out of the UK's decline: "Sandbrook is firmly committed to a central Thatcherite myth: there is no alternative". Gibbs also challenged the book's over-reliance on newspapers of the time, writing that "replicating the hysteria of contemporary reporting, Sandbrook betrays the limitations of his sources".Other reviews were more positive. The political philosopher John Gray referred to the book as "a magnificent history" and "indispensable to anyone who wants to understand these pivotal years". For The Sunday Times the historian Piers Brendon said it was "a rich mixture of political narrative and social reportage... scholarly, accessible, well written, witty and incisive."