Gary Love

About

I work on the political history of Britain and its relations with Europe and the rest of the world in the twentieth century. Within these areas, I have a special interest in the history of British political ideologies and traditions. After publishing an article on the history of British fascism, most of my work has been focussed on the history of British Conservatism, exploring intellectual cultures of Conservatism from the 1920s to the 1950s and more recently researching the Conservative party’s engagement with different forms of inter-party cooperation at the international level in the latter half of the twentieth century. As a result of this work, I also have an ongoing interest in exploring the use of political writing and publishing in British politics more broadly, particularly in relation to the history of the periodical press, book publishing, and pamphleteering.

In recent years, my research has attracted external research funding from both The Research Council of Norway and the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK. As a result of these projects, I am currently working on among other things two edited volumes provisionally entitled ‘Conservatism, Christian Democracy, and the Dynamics of Transformation in North-West Europe, 1945-90’, and, ‘Genres of Political Writing in Britain since 1900’.

Although I am always looking to embrace new opportunities and collaborations with scholars who work inside and outside of my field in Scandinavia and the rest of Europe, I still see myself first and foremost as a historian working in the field of modern British history and I continue to maintain strong links with scholars working in this area both in the UK and the USA. Since I came to NTNU I have spent two periods as a Visiting By-Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge (2014 and 2017-18) and another as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin (2018). In 2021 I was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in the UK.

On a more personal level, I grew up in Stockton-on-Tees in the North-East of England. I undertook degrees at the University of Hull (BA History and MA Historical Studies) before studying for a PhD in History at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Jon Lawrence, graduating in 2010. After teaching History for a year at Cardiff University in Wales I moved to NTNU in Trondheim to take up the position of Associate Professor of British Social and Cultural Studies in the English section at what was then the Department of Modern Foreign Languages. I was promoted to the position of Full Professor of British History and Culture in the Department of Language and Literature in 2020.

Research

Research Interests

Conservative Party politics and political thought (late 19th century to the present).
Genres of Political Writing in Britain since 1900.
Britain's Relationship with Scandinavia and Europe.
Thatcherism and British Society in the 1980s.
Women in British Politics

Externally Funded Research Projects

Principal Investigator and project leader of a comparative and transnational history project that explores the history of British and Scandinavian Conservative Parties from the 1930s to the 1980s. The project is funded by The Research Council of Norway (FRIPRO 'Young Research Talents' scheme) for 2017-23.
Co-investigator with Professor Richard Toye (University of Exeter) on the project 'Genres of Political Writing in Britain since 1900', which is funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) Networking Grant for 2020-22.

Work in Progress

Co-edited book with Christian Egander Skov: ‘Conservatism, Christian Democracy, and the Dynamics of Transformation: Traditions, Cooperation and Influence in North-West Europe, 1945-91’.
- Including my forthcoming chapter entitled ‘“The struggle is international”: towards International Democrat Union, 1978-90’.
Co-edited book with Richard Toye: '‘Genres of Political Writing in Britain since 1900’.
- Including my forthcoming chapter entitled ‘The rise and fall of the “Octopus Plan”: Conservative political writing and publishing from the 1940s to the 1970s’.
A monograph on the international dimensions of British Conservatism, 1945-91

Links to active research groups and projects can be accessed below:

Anglophone Political Cultures Group

Conservatism at the Crossroads

The project aims to show that there were real connections between the British and Scandinavian Conservative parties and that they made important contributions to the development of various forms of centre-right internationalism in the twentieth century.

Genres of Political Writing in Britain since 1900

This research project offers a new perspective on British politics since 1900 by examining the issue of political writing and publication in a systematic, interdisciplinary fashion.

Publications

2012

Love, Gary. (2012) Whig Lessons, Conservative Answers: The Literary Adventures of Sir J.A.R. Marriott. School of Advanced Study, University of London
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

2010

Love, Gary. (2010) Conservatives, National Politics, and the Challenge to Democracy in Britain, 1931-37 / degree conferred on 23 July 2011. University of Cambridge
Doctoral dissertation

2009

Love, Gary. (2009) 'The British Movement, Duncan Sandys, and the Politics of Constitutionalism in the 1930s'. Contemporary British History
Academic article

2007

Love, Gary. (2007) '"What's the Big Idea?": Oswald Mosley, the British Union of Fascists and Generic Fascism'. Journal of Contemporary History
Academic article

Journal publications

Love, Gary John. (2023) The British Conservative Party, the Scandinavian Conservative Parties, and Inter-Party Cooperation in Europe, 1949-78. Contemporary British History
Academic article
Love, Gary. (2020) 'Making a ‘New Conservatism’: The Tory Reform Committee and Design for Freedom, 1942–1949'. English Historical Review
Academic article
Love, Gary. (2020) ‘Real Toryism’ or Christian democracy? The political thought of Douglas Jerrold and Charles Petrie at the New English Review, 1945–50. Historical Research
Academic article
Love, Gary. (2018) A ‘Mixture of Britannia and Boadicea’: Dorothy Crisp’s Conservatism and the Limits of Right-Wing Women’s Political Activism, 1927–48. Twentieth Century British History
Academic article
Love, Gary. (2014) The Periodical Press and the Intellectual Culture of Conservatism in Interwar Britain. The Historical Journal
Academic article
Love, Gary. (2009) 'The British Movement, Duncan Sandys, and the Politics of Constitutionalism in the 1930s'. Contemporary British History
Academic article
Love, Gary. (2007) '"What's the Big Idea?": Oswald Mosley, the British Union of Fascists and Generic Fascism'. Journal of Contemporary History
Academic article

Part of book/report

Love, Gary. (2012) Whig Lessons, Conservative Answers: The Literary Adventures of Sir J.A.R. Marriott. School of Advanced Study, University of London
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

Report

Love, Gary. (2010) Conservatives, National Politics, and the Challenge to Democracy in Britain, 1931-37 / degree conferred on 23 July 2011. University of Cambridge
Doctoral dissertation

Teaching

Courses

I co-teach the course ENG1404 History annd Nation as 'The Making of Modern Britain'.

I also teach ENG3450 History, Society, and Culture as 'New Times? Britain in the 1980s'.

Supervision

I am interested in hearing from prospective PhD applicants in areas of twentieth century British political history and/ or transnational history.

I currently supervise two PhD candidates at NTNU:

Terje Grytbak Wold, 'The Influence of Foreign Ideas on the Norwegian Conservative Party, 1930-1963'.
Elisabeth Stennes Skaar, 'The Great Balancing Act: Britain, South Africa and the Namibia Question, 1974-1990' (Primary Supervisor: Michael J. Geary).

I also supervise MA theses in most areas of twentieth century British history and culture.

I have always taught British history more broadly than my research profile would suggest and in most cases students are welcome to pursue the historical approaches and perspectives that interest them the most. I would advise students to approach me when they have thought about some general historical themes and/ or periods that interest them. We can discuss ideas for potential topics, which we will then refine if I am assigned as your supervisor. In terms of what types of sources my students usually work with, some have chosen to visit archives and research libraries in the UK or elsewhere to look for research materials, whereas others have made use of a mix of online archives (increasing all the time) and published primary sources.

I have supervised Master’s theses on a range of interesting topics in these areas at NTNU:

A Vital Outlet for the British left: Marxism Today as a discursive space, 1979-1983
The Thatcher Governments and the Revolutions of 1989 in Germany and Eastern Europe
The Reputations of Margaret Thatcher and John Major in relation to ‘Black Wednesday’ and the European Exchange Rate Mechanism
Miners’ Strike of 1984-85 and ‘Community’ in North-East England.
Comparative history of the Conservative policies of the Thatcher and Willoch governments in Britain and Norway
Hooligan Problem: British state responses to Football-related violence in the 1970s
British foreign policy and the politics of intervention in Norway, 1939-40
Britain’s renewal of the nuclear deterrent, 1976-81
Anglo-Dutch relations in the Second World War
Britain, the USA, and the special relationship during the Grenada crisis, 1983-84
Birth control and eugenics in interwar Britain.
Britain, the USA, and the world oil crisis, 1973-74
The rise and fall of ‘cool Britannia’ in the 1990s
The Labour party’s economic policy, 1979-83.
The 2012 Olympic Games in London and British national identity.
Christianity and the public sphere in twentieth century Britain

Outreach

2023

Academic lecture

Love, Gary John. (2023) 'The Struggle is international': towards International Democratic Union, 1978-90'. Department of Historical and Classical Studies Research Seminar 2023-11-28 - 2023-11-28