Professor Peter Hennessy, historian

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2023

⏱️ 37 minutes

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Summary

Professor Peter Hennessy is one of the UK’s leading contemporary historians. He has written acclaimed and important books about politics, the civil service, the intelligence agencies and the British constitution on which he is an expert. Peter was born in London in 1947 and read history at St John’s College, Cambridge. He started writing for the Times in the mid-1970s, covering the inner workings of Whitehall whose activities at that time were shrouded in secrecy. Peter says he approached his journalism like an amateur anthropologist trying to discover more about an unknown culture. His reports were viewed with suspicion by some members of the civil service and Harold Wilson, the then prime minister, issued an edit banning them from talking to him. In 1986 Peter co-founded the Institute of Contemporary British History, and in 1992 he moved from journalism to academia at Queen Mary, University of London where he is Attlee professor of contemporary British history. He is a fellow of the British Academy and was made a crossbench life peer in 2010. During the COVID-19 pandemic he started keeping a diary which he describes as an “aid to humility” with the aim of assessing post-world war history as BC (Before Covid) or AC (After Covid). Peter lives in London with his wife Enid. DISC ONE: Slow Train - Flanders & Swann DISC TWO: Italian Concerto in F, BWV 971, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by George Malcolm DISC THREE: Why Don’t Women Like Me? - George Formby DISC FOUR: Schubert String Quintet In C Major,D. 956 - 2. Adagio, composed by Franz Schubert, performed by Robert Cohen (cello) and Amadeus Quartet DISC FIVE: The Elements - Tom Lehrer DISC SIX: London Girls - Chas & Dave DISC SEVEN: Skye Boat Song - The Pipes and Drums Of Leanisch DISC EIGHT: How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place, composed by Johannes Brahms, performed by Festival Choir And Orchestra, conducted by Thomas D. Rossin BOOK CHOICE: Poetry in the Making by Ted Hughes LUXURY ITEM: A fountain pen, ink and paper CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: London Girls - Chas & Dave Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:04.9	Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Deser Island Disks Podcast.
0:08.6	Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them
0:13.9	if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:16.5	And for right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
0:21.2	I hope you enjoy listening.
0:30.0	Music Radio Music
0:46.0	My cast away this week is the historian Professor Peter Hennessy, Lord Hennessy of Nymphsfield.
0:51.5	He's one of the UK's leading contemporary historians, chronicling post-war Britain
0:56.1	and, in his words, helping to preserve the curiosity of the species.
1:00.5	His in-depth knowledge of British politics was honed over 20 years as a white hole correspondent
1:06.0	for the times. He was so good at eliciting stories that one PM issued an
1:11.0	edict banning civil servants from talking to him, making his name in the process.
1:16.4	Switching his press pass for an academic post, he obtained a PhD and became professor of
1:21.8	contemporary British history at Queen Mary University of London and he was made a cross-bench
1:27.2	life pier in 2010. He has written about the intelligence agencies, nuclear weapons and the
1:33.0	British constitution on which he is an expert. But he's interested in human stories too,
1:39.5	as we've heard in his long-running Radio 4 series Reflections,
1:43.4	interviewing people who made the political weather. He says, I'm happiest with the family and run
1:48.9	a piece of weapons-grade gossip that's very funny and not malicious comes my way.
1:54.0	Peter Hennessy, welcome to Desert Island Discs. Thank you, Lauren, it's a treat to be with you.
1:58.8	Delighted to have you, so you enjoy a delicious slice of gossip, Peter. I mean, is that part of
	...

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