First Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture in French History

The Society for the Study of French History

and

The Institute of Historical Research, London

present:

Professor Julian Jackson (Queen Mary University of London): ‘The Century of Charles de Gaulle’ (24 November 2010, Chancellor’s Hall, Senate House, IHR).

When the distinguished professor of French History at University College London, Douglas Johnson (1925-2005), died, it was said that it had been his life’s work to help the British to understand the French and the French to understand Britain. That serves as the mission of this Annual Lecture, sponsored by the Society for the Study of French History, named in his honour.

Its subject is more than appropriate to the first occasion of the lecture. Professor Johnson was the first British historian to be able to explain Charles De Gaulle’s political principles in ways that the British could understand. November 2010 is also a significant double anniversary: 120 years from his birth and 40 years from his death.

Professor Julian Jackson, who is beginning work on a major new biography of the General, explains that only now can we begin to evaluate those principles and his achievement more broadly in the context of the ‘Century of Charles de Gaulle’.

The streamed video of the lecture will appear below:

The streamed video will appear automatically in Internet Explorer.

Viewing with Google Chrome may require a ‘missing plugin’ (.wmv) to be downloaded before the video can commence.