Christopher Hill

Chris is a modern British historian with research interests in activism, imperialism, media and nuclear politics. His research examines new media and radicalism in the history of the democratic state, as well as the importance of natural environments - deserts and islands in particular - to the making of nuclear knowledge at the end of empire.

In his first book, Peace and Power, Chris explored the intersection between radical democracy and popular media, with a specific focus on anti-nuclear movements and the rise of television. Since then, he has turned his attention to both local and imperial dimensions of Britain's nuclear history. This has led to published research on anti-nuclear campaigns and Scottish and Welsh nationalism, as well as on the 'new nuclear imperialism' that surrounded French nuclear weapons tests in the Algerian Sahara.

In 2020, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) supported Chris's research on British nuclear imperialism by awarding him an Early Career Leadership Fellowship. This enabled Chris to investigate the multifaceted role of imperialism across the cycle of nuclear development in Britain, from uranium extraction in the Congo and South Africa to nuclear weapons tests in Australia and the Pacific. This project will culminate in two major publications: a monograph entitled Radiant Empire, and an open access edited volume entitled Fallout Reframed. The latter will be hosted on Manifold, an innovative digital humanities platform with Liverpool University Press. It will feature interactive histories of nuclear survivors, veterans and workers worldwide.

Chris is principal investigator of 'An Oral History of British Nuclear Test Veterans', a project funded by the Office for Veteran Affairs, UK Cabinet Office. The project, supported by National Life Stories from the British Library, seeks to understand the significance of nuclear test participation in the course of veterans' lives. It will produce educational resources, a project film and an open access archive on British Library Sounds.