Acknowledgements

In the process of writing this book, I have benefitted from the advice and support of numerous people. First, I must offer my profound gratitude to Daniel Laqua, who supervised my doctoral thesis, on which the book is based, and who has been a constant source of enthusiasm, guidance and unfailing generosity since. I also owe a debt of gratitude to James McConnel, my secondary supervisor during my PhD, whose expertise and insight helped to shape the thesis and subsequent book. Thanks also go to Matthew Kelly, Henry Miller and Linsey Robb, who have offered extensive feedback on my work as well as encouragement, mentorship and employment opportunities post-PhD.

I am particularly indebted to David Edgerton, who provided invaluable feedback on the thesis as an external examiner and has been a source of support since. David Morgan-Owen has been similarly generous with his time and expertise, for which I am extremely grateful. Ann-Marie Foster read multiple draft chapters and, as always, offered insightful and constructive comments which improved the final version of this book. Thanks are also due to Susan Grayzel, Matthew Johnson, Julie Gottlieb, Jan Rüger, Laura Rowe, James Davey, Helen McCarthy, Christopher Bell, Thomas Stephens, Anthony Gorst, Amy Campbell, Nathan Hope, Rory Ogden, Ed Allen, Nicholas Holmes and Mark Holmes. I would like to thank those at the New Historical Perspectives Series and University of London Press – particularly Emma Gallon, Elizabeth Hurren, Heather Shore, Philip Carter and Natalia Fantetti – for their support, patience and understanding through the publication process. Neil Fleming’s insight and expertise have also been especially welcome, while feedback provided by Brett Holman and Sarah Longair during the author workshop has improved the book immeasurably. Any remaining errors are, of course, my own.

An earlier version of Chapter 7 of this book was published in volume 32 of the journal Twentieth Century British History in 2021. I am grateful to the editors for allowing me to reproduce aspects of the article here. I am also thankful for permission to use material from the National Archives; National Maritime Museum; British Library; Imperial War Museum; Parliamentary Archives; the London Archives; British Library of Political and Economic Science; London Metropolitan University; Imperial College Archives; Peace Pledge Union; City of Westminster Archives Centre; Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King’s College London; Royal Air Force Museum; National Aerospace Library; Marine Society and Sea Cadets; Air League; Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge; Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford; Nuffield College, University of Oxford; National Library of Scotland; National Records of Scotland; Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick; East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office at The Keep; Ball State University, Archives and Special Collections; Hull History Centre and the Northumberland Archives. I am grateful to the staff at each for assisting me throughout my research. Finally, I would like to thank the Syndics of Cambridge University Library for permission to reference material from the Manuscripts Reading Room and I gratefully acknowledge the permission of His Majesty King Charles III to quote from material held in the Royal Archives, Windsor.

The book has benefitted from a series of scholarships, research grants and fellowships. I would like to offer my gratitude to Northumbria University’s Graduate School for awarding me a scholarship which enabled me to carry out my PhD, and the Department of Humanities for additional support to cover the image production costs of the book. I would also like to thank the Institute of Historical Research, the Scouloudi Foundation, the Royal Historical Society, the Social History Society, the Marc Fitch Fund, the Society for Nautical Research and the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, for generously funding my research.

Finally, my greatest thanks must go to my friends and family for their support during the writing of this book and beyond. It would not have been possible without them.