S3E24 Huw Bennett - Cardiff University

Our guest today is charming international relations-cum-military historian Huw Bennett! Huw is a Reader in International Relations in the School of Law and Politics at Cardiff University in Wales. He was previously a Reader and then Lecturer in International Politics and Intelligence Studies at Aberystwyth University and a Lecturer in Defence Studies at King’s College London at the Joint Services Command and Staff College. He was educated at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, earning a degree in International Politics and Strategic Studies, a Master’s in Strategic Studies, and a PhD in International Politics.

Huw has written two books. The first, Fighting the Mau Mau: the British Army and Counter-Insurgency in the Kenya Emergency, was published by Cambridge in 2012, and his most recent book, Uncivil War: The British Army and the Troubles, 1966-1975, will be released by Cambridge in October 2023. Huw also co-edited The Kenya Papers of General Sir George Erskine, June 1953 to May 1955, with David French (The History Press for the Army Records Society, 2013). Huw’s articles have been published in War in History, the Journal of Strategic Studies, the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, and Defense and Security Analysis, to name a few. His work has been supported by the British Academy, The Leverhulme Trust, the Irish Research Council, and the Economic and Social Research Council.

Huw’s involvement in the profession is considerable. He is an editorial board member at The British Journal for Military History, Studies in Contemporary Warfare, and War and the British Empire. He is also the Co-Editor in Chief of Critical Military Studies. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and The Higher Education Academy and has appeared on BBC World News, Good Evening Wales, Radio France International, and many others.

Join us for a fun but, at times, deep chat with Huw Bennett. We’ll talk growing up half-Welsh in Surrey, living in Wales, the emotional toll of writing about atrocity, reading War and Peace, the delights of Spaghetti Ice, Barbi, Nirvana, and more!

Shoutout to Joe’s Ice Cream and Coco Gellato in Cardiff!

Rec.: 07/20/2023