Dr Grace Huxford

I am a social and oral historian of modern Britain, with particular interests in the Cold War (1945-1991), the aftermath of the Second World War, the Korean War (1950-1953) and the social history of warfare in the twentieth century.

I am also interested in the histories of people touched indirectly by war, such as military families, and the long-term impact of conflict on memory, gender and selfhood.  

Prior to my arrival here in 2015, I was Research Fellow in Oral History at the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Warwick, where I was also an Early Career Fellow. I received my PhD from the University of Warwick in 2015.

I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. 

Research

My research explores the social history of the Cold War in Britain. My first book, The Korean War in Britain: Citizenship, Selfhood and Forgetting (Manchester University Press, 2018), explores the social and cultural impact of the Korean War (1950-1953) on Britain. Assessing the impact of the war from 1950 to the early twenty-first century, my research uncovers the different ways in which British people responded to the Korean War and how it came to be known as the ‘Forgotten War’ of the twentieth century. I have published articles on several aspects of Britain’s Korean War, in Life Writing, Twentieth Century British History  and in book chapters in edited collections (see ‘Research Outputs’ tab for more detail).

My current research project looks at the social history of British military bases in Germany (1945-2000). This project, funded initially by the British Academy Small Grants Programme (Leverhulme Trust) and by an AHRC Leadership Fellowship (2019-21), examines the experiences of men, women and children living on German bases during the Cold War.

I have also developed an interest in life-writing and oral history methodologies, co-organising the Bristol Oral Histories Research Cluster with Professor John Foot (Italian Studies) and co-organising the interdisciplinary 'Reimagining the Diary' project (funded by the Brigstow Institute and working with creative media company Stand + Stare). 

 
Teaching 

I enjoy teaching across all levels of the BA, MA and PhD courses here at Bristol. My teaching has included units on Britain’s Cold War, the global aftermath of the Second World War, war and society in the twentieth-century Britain and Europe, oral history, the 'voice' in social history, public history, and histories of life-writing and selfhood. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

Research Supervision

I greatly enjoy supervising PhD and MPhil students here at Bristol and currently supervise doctoral research on: British communities in Berlin during the Cold War (funded by an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership with the Imperial War Museums); the history of tattoos and tattooing in the contemporary British Army; humanitarianism and the BBC External Services during the Cold War; Second World War environmental history; American expatriate communities in Hong Kong; and gender and femininity in British secondary schools between 1970 and 2000. 

My past doctoral research students include: 

• Theresa McKeon, 'Public Services, Private Values: The Society of the Merchant Venturers of Bristol and the Changing World of Welfare Service Provision in England, 1975-2017' (completed 2020). 

I welcome applications from prospective postgraduate history students interested in researching modern British history, particularly cultural and social history, as well as any projects relating to the social history of warfare in the twentieth century. I also welcome projects using oral history or life-writing methodologies. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me via email if you would like to discuss your research plans.