Michael Taylor (historian) explained

Michael Taylor
Country:Ireland
Fullname:Michael Hugh Taylor
Birth Date:6 December 1988
Birth Place:Ballymena, County Antrim
Batting:Right-hand bat
Bowling:Legbreak
Role:Bowler
Club1:Cambridge MCCU
Year1:2008–2014
Club2:Ballymena Cricket Club
Year2:2009–2015
Date:1 May 2016
Source:ESPNcricinfo

Michael Hugh Taylor (born 6 December 1988 in Ballymena, County Antrim) is an historian and a former Irish first-class cricketer who played for Cambridge University Cricket Club from 2008 to 2014.[1] [2] Following his academic studies in history, Taylor has written two popular books on aspects of nineteenth-century history, and contributed to public debate on Britain's role in slavery.[3] [4]

Education

Taylor studied at Cambridge University from 2007 to 2015. He was a student at Gonville and Caius College, where he studied for a B.A., an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in history.[5] Taylor's PhD thesis titled The defence of British Colonial Slavery, 1823-33, was awarded in 2015.[6] As a student, Taylor played cricket for Cambridge University Cricket Club, from 2008 to 2014.[7] He earned a Blue for cricket in 2010, by representing Cambridge in the annual Oxford-Cambridge cricket matches.[8] He was also a member of the Gonville and Caius team that won the televised quiz competition, University Challenge, in 2015. [6]

Career

After completing his doctoral studies, Taylor was a lecturer in Modern British History at Balliol College, Oxford, and a Visiting Fellow at the British Library's Eccles Centre for American Studies. In 2018, he reached the final of Mastermind, a televised quiz show.[9]

Taylor has published three books. His first was An Independent Empire: Diplomacy & War in the Making of the United States published in 2020 with political scientist Michael S. Kochin.[10] His second, also published in 2020, was The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery. [11] This book was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in political writing in 2021.[12]

In March 2024, he published his third book, Impossible Monsters. This is a popular history of the arguments about science and religion that followed the discoveries of fossilised bones and skeletons of primordial creatures, including Plesiosaurus, Megalosaurus and Dimorphodon, during the early 19th century.[13] [14]

Taylor works for PwC, as a senior manager in their indirect tax disputes section.[15] [16]

Published books

Academic

Trade books

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Michael Taylor . 1 May 2016. ESPN Cricinfo.
  2. Web site: CambU vs SUSS Cricket Scorecard, at Cambridge, May 12 - 14, 2010. ESPNcricinfo.
  3. News: Britain's role in slavery was not to end it, but to thwart abolition at every turn. Michael. Taylor. 20 June 2020. The Guardian.
  4. News: Never forget that the British political and media elite endorsed slavery. It took radical campaigners to end it. Michael. Taylor. 30 January 2023. The Guardian.
  5. News: The backlash: how slavery research came under fire. Samira. Shackle. 1 June 2023. The Guardian.
  6. Web site: How and why the British defended slavery. 22 June 2022. Institute of Historical Research.
  7. Web site: Cambridge University Cricket Club - Player Profiles. w.cucc.net.
  8. Web site: Michael continues his Cambridge cricket education. 19 July 2010. NorthernIrelandWorld.com/.
  9. Web site: Forest of Dean questions baffle contestants at Mastermind final. Louisa. Baldwin. 31 March 2018. Gloucestershire Live.
  10. Michael S. Kochin and Michael Taylor: An Independent Empire: Diplomacy and War in the Making of the United States. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2020. Pp. x, 309.). Anthony A.. Peacock. 1 November 2021. The Review of Politics. 83. 4. 583–585. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/S0034670521000620.
  11. News: The Interest by Michael Taylor review – busting the British slavery myth. Fara. Dabhoiwala. 29 October 2020. The Guardian.
  12. Web site: The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery | The Orwell Foundation. www.orwellfoundation.com.
  13. Web site: Piers Brendon - Bones of Contention. 1 April 2024. Literary Review.
  14. Web site: BBC Radio 4 - Start the Week, The war between science and religion. BBC. 1 April 2024.
  15. Web site: Unlocking import VAT: the role of ownership | Tax Adviser. 30 January 2024. www.taxadvisermagazine.com.
  16. Web site: VAT and indirect tax in London | Law firm and lawyer rankings from The Legal 500 United Kingdom - Solicitors guide. www.legal500.com.