Michael_Taylor_(Irish_cricketer)

Michael Taylor (historian)

Michael Taylor (historian)

Irish historian and cricketer

Michael Hugh Taylor (born 6 December 1988 in Ballymena, County Antrim) is an historian and a former Irish first-class cricketer who played for Cambridge University Cricket Club from 2008 to 2014.[1][2] Following his academic studies in history, Taylor has written two popular books on aspects of nineteenth-century history, and contributed to public debate on Britain's role in slavery.[3][4]

Quick Facts Personal information, Full name ...

Education

Taylor studied at Cambridge University from 2007 to 2015. He was a student at Gonville and Caius College, where he studied for a B.A., an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in history.[5] Taylor's PhD thesis titled The defence of British Colonial Slavery, 1823-33, was awarded in 2015.[6] As a student, Taylor played cricket for Cambridge University Cricket Club, from 2008 to 2014.[7] He earned a Blue for cricket in 2010, by representing Cambridge in the annual Oxford-Cambridge cricket matches.[8] He was also a member of the Gonville and Caius team that won the televised quiz competition, University Challenge, in 2015. [6]

Career

After completing his doctoral studies, Taylor was a lecturer in Modern British History at Balliol College, Oxford, and a Visiting Fellow at the British Library's Eccles Centre for American Studies. In 2018, he reached the final of Mastermind, a televised quiz show.[9]

Taylor has published three books. His first was An Independent Empire: Diplomacy & War in the Making of the United States published in 2020 with political scientist Michael S. Kochin.[10] His second, also published in 2020, was The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery. [11] This book was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in political writing in 2021.[12]

In March 2024, he published his third book, Impossible Monsters. This is a popular history of the arguments about science and religion that followed the discoveries of fossilised bones and skeletons of primordial creatures, including Plesiosaurus, Megalosaurus and Dimorphodon, during the early 19th century.[13][14]

Taylor works for PwC, as a senior manager in their indirect tax disputes section.[15][16]

Published books

Academic

  • Kochin, Michael S, and Taylor, Michael (2020) An Independent Empire: Diplomacy & War in the Making of the United States, University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0472074402

Trade books

  • Taylor, Michael (2020) The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery, The Bodley Head, 400 pp. ISBN 9781847925718
  • Taylor, Michael (2024) Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin and the War Between Science and Religion, The Bodley Head, 496pp. ISBN 9781847926784

References

  1. [1]
    "Michael Taylor". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  2. [2]
    "CambU vs SUSS Cricket Scorecard, at Cambridge, May 12 - 14, 2010". ESPNcricinfo.
  3. [3]
    Taylor, Michael (20 June 2020). "Britain's role in slavery was not to end it, but to thwart abolition at every turn" – via The Guardian.
  4. [4]
    Taylor, Michael (30 January 2023). "Never forget that the British political and media elite endorsed slavery. It took radical campaigners to end it" – via The Guardian.
  5. [5]
    Shackle, Samira (1 June 2023). "The backlash: how slavery research came under fire" – via The Guardian.
  6. [6]
    "How and why the British defended slavery". Institute of Historical Research. 22 June 2022.
  7. [7]
    "Cambridge University Cricket Club - Player Profiles". w.cucc.net.
  8. [8]
    "Michael continues his Cambridge cricket education". 19 July 2010 – via NorthernIrelandWorld.com/.
  9. [9]
    Baldwin, Louisa (31 March 2018). "Forest of Dean questions baffle contestants at Mastermind final". Gloucestershire Live.
  10. [10]
    Peacock, Anthony A. (1 November 2021). "Michael S. Kochin and Michael Taylor: An Independent Empire: Diplomacy and War in the Making of the United States. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2020. Pp. x, 309.)". The Review of Politics. 83 (4): 583–585. doi:10.1017/S0034670521000620 – via Cambridge University Press.
  11. [11]
    Dabhoiwala, Fara (29 October 2020). "The Interest by Michael Taylor review – busting the British slavery myth" – via The Guardian.
  12. [12]
    "The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery | The Orwell Foundation". www.orwellfoundation.com.
  13. [13]
    "Piers Brendon - Bones of Contention". Literary Review. 1 April 2024.
  14. [14]
    "BBC Radio 4 - Start the Week, The war between science and religion". BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  15. [15]
    "Unlocking import VAT: the role of ownership | Tax Adviser". www.taxadvisermagazine.com. 30 January 2024.
  16. [16]
    "VAT and indirect tax in London | Law firm and lawyer rankings from The Legal 500 United Kingdom - Solicitors guide". www.legal500.com.
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