Jack Plumb was born on 20 August 1911. A Fellow of Christ’s for over fifty years and Master in 1978-82, he also held a personal chair in the University as Professor of Modern English History. Plumb was best known for his works on various facets of 18th-century history, including the Pelican history England in the Eighteenth Century, biographical volumes such as The First Four Georges and Walpole, and studies at the intersection of political, social and cultural history, notably The Growth of Political Stability and the co-authored Birth of the Consumer Society. He was also in his heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, a leading public intellectual who disseminated history to a general audience on both sides of the Atlantic, both through his essays and reviews and also through the pioneering TV series Royal Heritage.

The afternoon symposium on Saturday 2 July – J.H. Plumb and the Writing of History – explored his life and writings against the background of how the historical discipline has changed over the last half-century.

Recordings from the event are now available on-line at:

/alumni/distinguished-alumni/professor_jack_plumb/