Eminent historian Professor Sir Richard Evans to lecture at Big Ideas festival in Scarborough
Richard J Evans’ formidable academic prowess as one of the world’s leading historians of modern Germany will be evident in person when he lectures in Scarborough in May.
In his forthcoming talk titled Nazism and the Environment, Professor Evans will present his ideas on this topic at St Mary’s Church on Saturday May 24 at 2pm, in one of the highlights of this year’s Big Ideas By The Sea festival programme.
Regius Professor Emeritus of History at Cambridge University, he has authored several books on modern German and European History, including The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914 (volume 7 in the Penguin History of Europe), which includes extensive coverage of the environmental history of this period.
His most recent book is ‘Hitler’s People: The Faces of the Third Reich’, published in 2024.
Scarborough historian Stewart MacDonald, a former Sixth Form College lecturer and author of Scarborough at War, an authoritative account of the town during the WW2 era, enthusiastically stated: “Richard Evans is a giant among British historians - a world authority on modern European history, and Germany in particular.
"He is also a great champion of the discipline of History and of its vital relevance to present challenges”.
As an internationally renowned academic, in 2000 Professor Evans was the principal expert witness for the defence in the David Irving Holocaust Denial libel trial at the High Court in London, subsequently the subject of the feature film Denial.
In 1994 he was awarded the Hamburg medal for Art and Science for cultural services to the city and in 2015 received the British Academy Leverhulme Medal, awarded every three years for a significant contribution to the Humanities or Social Sciences.
From 2008 to 2014 he was Regius Professor of History at Cambridge University and from 2010 to 2017 President of Wolfson College, Cambridge.
He also served as Provost of Gresham College in The City of London from 2014 to 2020.
His other book titles include Death in Hamburg (winner of the Wolfson History Prize), In Defence of History, The Coming of The Third Reich, The Third Reich in Power and The Third Reich at War.
In addition, he is Deputy Chair of the Spoliation Advisory Panel, which advises the Secretary of State for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport on claims for the restitution of Nazi-looted art.
In 2012 he was knighted for services to scholarship.
Accompanying Professor Evans on the same day will be two other world-class speakers presenting lectures.
The eminent cultural historian Professor Sir Christopher Frayling (speaking at 12.30pm) a leading international authority on cinematic history and a former Rector of The Royal College of Art, who makes a return visit to the festival and Scarborough-born industrial designer Richard Seymour (at 3.30pm) returns to his hometown with a talk on the future of design and technology.
Professor Sir Richard Evans appears at St Mary’s Church on Saturday May 24 at 2pm.
The Big Ideas By The Sea festival runs from May 16 to 30.
Visit bigideasbythesea.com for information and tickets.