Christopher Duggan

Christopher John Hesketh Duggan (4 November 1957 – 2 November 2015) was a British historian and academic. He specialised in the political, social and cultural history of modern Italy. He began his career as a research fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford and then at All Souls College, Oxford. In 1987, he moved to the University of Reading where he remained until his death. He was Professor of Modern Italian History from 2002.

Early life and education On 4 November 1957, Duggan was born to Margaret (née Hesketh) and John Duggan in Petts Wood, Kent, England. His mother was a nurse and social worker, and his father worked as a shipbroker. He was educated at Dulwich College, an all-boys public school in London, and at Westminster School, an all-boys public school in the grounds of Westminster Abbey.

Academic career Duggan began his academic career as a junior research fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford between 1983 and 1985. Unusually for a historian, he was not based in the Department of History but in the Department of European Studies. and had been elected as a Two Year Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford.

Duggan wrote books about Italian history. A Concise History of Italy (1994) allowed him to return to his original interest in medieval history. First published in Italian in 2000, Francesco Crispi 1818–1901 (2002), the first biography in English on Prime Minister Francesco Crispi, explores Crispi's evolution from a revolutionary democrat to a bellicose authoritarian and his role in the unification of Italy. The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy since 1796 (2007) focuses on Italy in the 19th and 20th centuries. In his prize-winning book Fascist Voices (2012), he used the diaries, memoirs and letters of thousands of ordinary Italian citizens to investigate why so many had closely identified with the early 20th-century fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. A full inquest into his death recorded a verdict of suicide.

Personal life Duggan met his wife Jennifer Mundy at the University of Oxford, They had two children: Amelia and Thomas. This is one of the highest honours Italy can give to a foreign citizen. In 2013, Duggan's book Fascist Voices (2012) was awarded the prestigious Wolfson History Prize. He received £25,000 in prize money. His doctoral supervisor and mentor, Denis Mack Smith, had been awarded the same prize 36 years earlier. Fascist Voices was also named "Political History Book of the Year" in the Political Book Awards of 2013.

Selected works