‘1066 And All That’ - really serious nonsense

Published in 1930 by Methuen and never out of print since, this isn’t (as everyone has always supposed) just an innocent laugh at kids’ mistakes. It is a laugh, and we explore many of the jokes. But 1066 And All That is suffused with subversive subtexts. Our original research reveals its origins back in the academic infighting and socialism young authors Sellar and Yeatman experienced studying history in 1919 Oxford. Both had fought and been wounded in the war.

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Duke Humfrey's Library, Bodleian, Oxford

GN Clark, Oxford historian

Only photo of either Sellar or Yeatman not in copyright. Sellar's wedding 6 April 1929

Oriel College, Oxford

Oxford 1920s

Oxford with Radcliffe Camera, circular library in centre

Regius Professor, Modern History, CH Firth

There’s only one place to look. See Jon’s article ‘GN Clark and the Oxford School of Modern History: Hidden origins of 1066 And All That,’ which you’ll find in English Historical Review 135 (2020). It has plenty of footnotes to follow up if you want.