# Lucy Noakes

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For the political adviser with the same name, see [Downing Street Press Secretary](/source/Downing_Street_Press_Secretary).

British historian (born 1964)

Lucy Noakes FRHistS Born 1964 (age 61–62) Other name Lucy Caroline Noakes Academic background Alma mater University of Sussex Thesis Gender and British National Identity in Wartime (1996) Influences Sheila Rowbotham E. P. Thompson Academic work Discipline History Sub-discipline Cultural history social history Institutions University of Brighton University of Essex

**Lucy Caroline Noakes** [FRHistS](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Historical_Society) (born 1964) is a British historian. Since 2017, she has been Rab Butler Professor of Modern History at the [University of Essex](/source/University_of_Essex). She has served as the President of the [Royal Historical Society](/source/Royal_Historical_Society) since 2024.[1]

## Biography

Noakes has said that she became interested in history through left-wing politics; she was inspired by [E. P. Thompson](/source/E._P._Thompson)'s speeches at [CND](/source/Campaign_for_Nuclear_Disarmament) rallies and by his book *[The Making of the English Working Class](/source/The_Making_of_the_English_Working_Class)* to uncover the lives of ordinary people, especially women (owing to the influence of feminist historians like [Sheila Rowbotham](/source/Sheila_Rowbotham)). She completed a [Bachelor of Arts](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) (BA) degree at the [University of Sussex](/source/University_of_Sussex) and stayed there to complete a [Doctor of Philosophy](/source/Doctor_of_Philosophy) (DPhil) degree,[2] which was awarded in 1996 for her thesis *Gender and British National Identity in Wartime: A Study of the Links Between Gender and National Identity in Britain in the Second World War, the Falklands War, and the Gulf War*.[3]

After her doctorate, Noakes worked at [Southampton Solent University](/source/Southampton_Solent_University) and the [University of Portsmouth](/source/University_of_Portsmouth), before joining the [University of Brighton](/source/University_of_Brighton) in 2007, where she eventually became Reader in Social and Cultural History.[2][4] In 2017, Noakes was appointed [Rab Butler](/source/Rab_Butler) Professor of Modern History at the [University of Essex](/source/University_of_Essex).[5] As of 2014, she is a [Fellow of the Royal Historical Society](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Historical_Society).[6]

## Research

Noakes's research has focused on war, memory, gender and national identity in modern Britain, in particular on the experiences and memories of people who were involved in First and Second World War, as well as gendered identities in wartime, and on women's experiences of war. Her publications include:[2]

**Books**

- *The People's Victory. VE Day Through the Eyes of Those Who Were There* (Atlantic Press, 2025) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781838955151](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781838955151)

- *Dying for the Nation: Death, Grief and Bereavement in Second World War Britain* (Manchester UNiversity Press, 2020) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780719087592](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780719087592)

- (with [Claire Langhamer](/source/Claire_Langhamer) and [Claudia Siebrecht](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Claudia_Siebrecht&action=edit&redlink=1)) *Total War: An Emotional History* (British Academy/Oxford UNiversity Press, 2020) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780197266663](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780197266663)

- (With [Sasha Handley](/source/Sasha_Handley) and [Rohan McWilliam](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rohan_McWilliam&action=edit&redlink=1)) *New Directions in Social and Cultural History* (Bloomsbury, 2017) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781472580818](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781472580818)

- (With Juliette Pattinson) *British Cultural Memory and the Second World War* (Bloomsbury, 2013). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781441104977](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781441104977)

- *Women in the British Army: War and the 'Gentle Sex', 1907–1948* (Routledge, 2008) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780415390576](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780415390576)

- *War and the British: Gender and National Identity, 1939–1991* (I.B. Tauris, 1997). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781860643064](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781860643064)

**Articles and book chapters**

- 'The People's War in Concrete and Stone. Death and the negotiation of Collective Identity in Second World War Britain', *[English Historical Review](/source/English_Historical_Review)*, Vol. CXXXVIII (2024).

- (with [Maggie Andrews](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maggie_Andrews_(historian)&action=edit&redlink=1), [Alison Fell](/source/Alison_Fell) and [June Purvis](/source/June_Purvis)) "Representing, Remembering and Rewriting Women's Histories of the First World War", *[Women's History Review](/source/Women's_History_Review)* (2017).

- "'My Husband is Interested in War Generally': gender, family history and the emotional legacies of total war", *Women's History Review* (2017).

- "A broken silence? Mass Observation, Armistice Day and 'everyday life' in Britain 1937–1941", *[Journal of European Studies](/source/Journal_of_European_Studies)*, vol. 45, no. 4 (2015).

- "Gender, Grief, and Bereavement in Second World War Britain", *Journal of War and Culture Studies*, vol. 8, no. 1 (2015).

- (with Juliette Pattinson and Wendy Ugolini), "Incarcerated Masculinities: Male POWs and the Second World War", *Journal of War and Culture Studies*, vol. 7, no. 3 (2014).

- "'War on the Web': The BBC 'People's War' Website and Memories of the Second World War in 21st century Britain", in Lucy Noakes and Juliette Pattinson, *British Cultural Memory and the Second World War* (2013). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781441160577](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781441160577)

- "Defending the home(land): gendering Civil Defence from the First World War to the 'War on Terror'. Gender and Conflict since 1914", in [Ana Carden-Coyne](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ana_Carden-Coyne&action=edit&redlink=1) (ed.), *Historical and Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Gender and Conflict since 1914* (2012), pp. 53–70. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780230280946](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780230280946)

- "'Serve to Save': Gender, Citizenship and Civil Defence in Britain 1937–41", *Journal of Contemporary History*, vol. 47, no. 4 (2012).

- "From War Service to Domestic Service: Ex-Servicewomen and the Free Passage Scheme 1919-22", *Twentieth Century British History*, vol. 22, no. 1 (2011).

- "Demobilising the Military Woman: Constructions of Class and Gender in Britain after the First World War", *Gender and History*, vol. 19, no. 1 (2007).

- "Eve in Khaki: Women Working with the British Military 1915–1918", in [Louise Jackson](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Louise_Jackson&action=edit&redlink=1) (ed.), *Women and Work Culture: Britain c. 1850–1950* (2005), pp. 213–228. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0754650508](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0754650508)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Royal Historical Society appoints Lucy Noakes as its new President from 2024"](https://royalhistsoc.org/royal-historical-society-appoints-lucy-noakes-as-its-new-president-from-2024/). *Royal Historical Society*. Retrieved 21 January 2025.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-prof_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-prof_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-prof_2-2) ["Profile for Lucy Noakes"](https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/noake11404/lucy-noakes), *University of Essex*. Retrieved 7 February 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [*Gender and British National Identity in Wartime: A Study of the Links Between Gender and National Identity in Britain in the Second World War, the Falklands War, and the Gulf War*](http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos.294419), *EthOS* (British Library). Retrieved 7 February 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Lucy Noakes"](http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/re/doctoral-centre-arts/student/?a=21263), *University of Brighton*. Retrieved 7 February 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Rab Butler Chair in Modern History appointed"](https://www.essex.ac.uk/news/2017/07/25/rab-butler-chair-in-modern-history-appointed), *University of Essex*, 25 July 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["List of Fellows – N"](https://5hm1h4aktue2uejbs1hsqt31-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/RHS-Fellows-N.pdf), Royal Historical Society. Retrieved 7 February 2018.

## External links

- [Lucy Noakes](https://x.com/LucyNoakes1) on [X](/source/X_(social_network))

Academic offices Preceded by Emma Griffin President of the Royal Historical Society 2024–present Succeeded by Incumbent

v t e Presidents of the Royal Historical Society 1871–1872 George Grote 1873–1878 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell 1878–1891 Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare 1891–1899 Sir M. E. Grant Duff 1899–1901 Sir Adolphus Ward 1901–1905 Sir George Prothero 1905–1909 William Hunt 1909–1913 William Cunningham 1913–1917 Sir Charles Firth 1917–1921 Sir Charles Oman 1921–1925 Sir John Fortescue 1925–1929 Frederick Tout 1929–1933 Sir Richard Lodge 1933–1937 Sir F. M. Powicke 1937–1945 Sir Frank Stenton 1946–1949 Robert William Seton-Watson 1949–1953 Theodore Plucknett 1953–1957 Hale Bellot 1957–1961 David Knowles 1961–1965 Sir Goronwy Edwards 1965–1969 Robin Humphreys 1969–1973 Sir R. W. Southern 1973–1977 Sir Geoffrey Elton 1977–1981 Sir John Habakkuk 1981–1985 Sir J. C. Holt 1985–1989 Gerald Aylmer 1989–1993 Michael Thompson 1993–1997 Sir Rees Davies 1997–2001 Sir P. J. Marshall 2001–2005 Dame Janet Nelson 2005–2008 Martin Daunton 2009–2012 Colin Jones 2012–2016 Peter Mandler 2016–2020 Margot Finn 2020-2024 Emma Griffin 2024-present Lucy Noakes

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