England
An Oxford World War II Conference
Program No. 21453RJ
Immerse yourself in the story of WWII in Oxford, where you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the outbreak of the war through lectures and expert-led speaker discussions.
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DATES
& starting prices
PRICES
Sep 8 - Sep 15, 2024
Starting at
3,499DATES
& starting prices
PRICES
Sep 8 - Sep 15, 2024
Starting at
3,499Not seeing the date you're looking for?
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8 days
7 nights
16 meals
6B 5L 5D
1
In Transit to Program
In Flight
3
Lectures Begin
Oxford
4
Lectures Continue
Oxford
5
Lectures Continue
Oxford
6
Lectures continue.
Oxford
7
Final day of lectures.
Oxford
8
Program Concludes
Oxford
At a Glance
On September 1, 1939 the threads of an increasingly tense web of international relations began to snap as German forces crossed the Polish border. One year later armed conflict was again in full swing across the world, with no end in sight. We invite you to join distinguished scholars and historians in Oxford, England for a historic conference event, the seventh in Road Scholar’s World War series. Delve into the origins, outbreak and early stages of the Second World War with leading experts at the conference.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Walking and standing up to 2 hours on some field trips.
What You'll Learn
- Get insight from renowned experts, historians, authors, professors and broadcasters into the events of the Second World War with a special focus on 1941.
- Focus on the events of 1941 in lectures: the war in North Africa, the struggle against the U-Boats and the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
- Learn about the events of the war on land, sea and in the air, as well as daily life on the home front, in an expert-led discussion.
- Enjoy the ambience of an Oxford College at St Hugh's, including dinner in hall, receptions and gala dinner and a gin tasting with John Harris.
General Notes
This conference program has a maximum of 120 like-minded participants, is classroom-based and features acclaimed experts. For field trips, the group will be divided into smaller groups. Double rooms are not offered on this program due to the rooming configurations at St. Hugh’s College. We offer a set of two single rooms with an adjoining area and shared bathroom facilities. Roommate matching cannot be offered.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Spencer Jones
Dr. Spencer Jones is an award-winning historian and author with a special interest in the First and Second World Wars and the life of Sir Winston Churchill. He is a senior lecturer in armed forces and war studies at the University of Wolverhampton, and serves in the British Army as the regimental historian of the Royal Artillery. His most recent publication is 'The Darkest Year: The British Army on the Western Front 1917' (Helion and Company, 2021).
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Spencer Jones
View biography
Dr. Spencer Jones is an award-winning historian and author with a special interest in the First and Second World Wars and the life of Sir Winston Churchill. He is a senior lecturer in armed forces and war studies at the University of Wolverhampton, and serves in the British Army as the regimental historian of the Royal Artillery. His most recent publication is 'The Darkest Year: The British Army on the Western Front 1917' (Helion and Company, 2021).
Ruth Polling
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Ruth graduated at the top of her class as the London Blue Badge Travel Educator of the Year and has been sharing her knowledge of England with curious travelers for three years. London born and bred, she is energetic and passionate about the United Kingdom. Ruth graduated from the London School of Economics with a degree in International History with an emphasis on Military History. She previously worked in London politics for eleven years including working in the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Jonathan Krause
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Dr. Jonathan Krause is a research fellow at the University of Oxford and lecturer in the history of war at the University of Wolverhampton. He is the author of "Early Trench Tactics in the French Army: the Second Battle of Artois, May-June 1915" and editor of "The Greater War: Other Combatants and Other Fronts, 1914-1918." He is currently writing a book on the history of anticolonial rebellions in West Africa and Southeast Asia in the early 20th century.
Annette Barton
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Before becoming a group leader, Annette worked in the Economic Development Department in a UK local government post, which took her to many countries in Europe and beyond. After taking early retirement, she lived and sailed in the Mediterranean for a few years before joining Road Scholar. In the following two decades, she has led groups in at least 18 countries, visited 24 countries as part of a world voyage and has assisted at international conferences.
Kevin Durjun
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Kevin Durjun began his career in theatre arts as a radio producer and presenter. He then served as manager at the Theatre Royal Stratford East and later as membership and communications manager for the Independent Theatre Council as well as two leading off-West End theatres.
Adam Dighton
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Adam Dighton holds a B.A. with honors in war studies and and M.A. in war, media, and society from the University of Kent.
Adam held a teaching fellowship in the history of the warfare at the University of Birmingham between August 2016 and August 2019, and joined the University of Wolverhampton as a lecturer in war studies in January 2022.
Robert Lyman
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Dr. Robert Lyman, FRHistS, is a writer and historian. He is a research fellow at the Changing Character of War Centre, Pembroke College, University of Oxford. After finishing a 20-year career in the British Army in 2001, he has published widely on the Second World War in Europe, North Africa and Asia.
Saul David
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Saul David is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a professorial research fellow at the University of Buckingham’s Humanities Research Institute. From 2009 to 2021, he was professor of military history at the University of Buckingham and program director for Buckingham’s London-based M.Phil. in military history.
Kate Vigurs
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Dr. Kate Vigurs, FRHistS, is an historian, author, and researcher. She is currently a visiting academic in the department of political and international studies at the University of Warwick. With a Ph.D. in history from the University of Leeds. She is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
James Jeffries
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James Jeffries is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Essex studying the British cultural memories of aerial warfare in both World Wars. A lecturer at the Universities of Essex and Wolverhampton, James contributes to History Indoors and WW2 TV, and has worked as a historical consultant for documentaries.
Victoria Taylor
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Dr. Victoria Taylor, B.A. (Hons), M.Res., AFHEA, is an award-winning aviation historian who completed her Ph.D. thesis on the Luftwaffe and National Socialism in the Third Reich at the University of Hull and Sheffield Hallam University. Her main historical focus is on British and German aviation during the interwar period and the Second World War.
Suggested Reading List
(23 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
An Oxford World War II Conference
Program Number: 21453
France 1940: Defending the Republic
The Coming of the Third Reich
Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris
Anatomy of a Campaign: The British Fiasco in Norway, 1940
First to Fight: The Polish War 1939
Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis
Britain, France and Belgium 1939-1940
The Lights that Failed: European History 1919-1933
The Peace That Never Was: A History of the League of Nations
The Duel: The Eighty Day Struggle Between Churchill and Hitler
Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man
The Battle of Britain: Five Months which Changed History
Churchill: Walking with Destiny
Winston Churchill dominates our view of the history of Britain in the twentieth century - the brash, brave and ambitious young aristocrat who sought out danger in late Victorian wars, the mercurial First Lord of the Admiralty who was responsible for the Dardanelles disaster in 1915, the Home Secretary who crushed the General Strike in 1926, the Colonial Secretary who rode with T. E. Lawrence and Gertrude Bell at the Pyramids, the Chancellor who took the country back to the Gold Standard and then spent more than ten years in the political wilderness - and who, finally, was summoned to save his country in 1940. 'I felt that I was walking with destiny, and all my life had been but preparation for that hour.' Andrew Robert's titanic new biography interprets all these events, especially Churchill's leadership during the Second World War, which he sees through the prism of all Churchill's earlier life. He gives full visibility to Churchill's flaws, and brilliantly explains his genius. Roberts has used over forty collections of papers not available to Churchill's previous biographer Roy Jenkins (2001) and he is the first Churchill biographer to be granted access by the Queen to the private diaries of King George VI. This is the Churchill biography for our times and the next generation.
The Third Reich in Power
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
When the Children Came Home: Stories of Wartime Evacuees
1939: Countdown to War
When Britain Saved the West: The Story of 1940
Strange Defeat
The Republic in Danger: General Maurice Gamelin and the Politics of French Defence, 1933-1940
Blitzkrieg: Myth, Reality and Hitler’s Lightning War – France 1940
Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War
The Triumph of the Dark: European History 1933 – 1939