Staff Profile
Career Summary
Biography
Philip Dwyer studied in Perth, Paris and Berlin before receiving his doctorate from the University of Western Australia. His first posting was as a Leverhulme Fellow at the University of Dundee. He has taught European History at the University of Newcastle since 1994. His primary research interest is eighteenth-century Europe with a particular emphasis on the Napoleonic Empire. Volume one of his study on Napoleon won the National Biography Award in 2008. The second volume is due out in 2013. He is currently working on the sequel as well as a number of related projects that include the war memoir, and the massacre in history. Philip is currently Director of the Centre for the History of Violence.
Recent Publication - Citizen Emperor: Napoleon in Power 1799-1815 
About Citizen Emperor
'Napoleon's legend is so persistent that it confounds the historical reality in the popular imagination. He himself contributed much towards the construction of his own myth, from his youth even until after he fell from power, when, while in exile, he dictated his memoirs to a group of disciples who took down his every word in the hope that his version of history would prevail. Such were Napoleon's skills as a chronicler that much of the legend is still unquestioningly accepted...'
This second volume of Philip Dwyer's outstanding biography sheds further fresh light on one of the great figures of modern history. After a meteoric rise, a military-political coup in 1799 established Napoleon Bonaparte in government, aged just thirty. This meticulously researched study examines the man in power, from his brooding obsessions and capacity for violence, to his ability to inspire others and realise his visionary ideas. One of the first truly modern politicians, Napoleon skilfully fashioned the image of himself that laid the foundation of the legend that endures to this day; Philip Dwyer's ambitious, definitive work separates myth from history to offer us anew one of history's most charismatic and able leaders.
Reviews
“This remarkable first volume of biography explodes many of the myths that have gathered around Bonaparte” – The Sunday Times
“A superb work of both scholarship and literature. We are clearly in the presence of what will be a monumental work” – Andrew Roberts on Napoleon: The Path to Power 1769-1799
Qualifications
- PhD, University of Western Australia, 24/08/1993
- Diplome d'Etudes Approprondies, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
- Maitrise, Universite de la Sorbonne
- Licence (B.A. Honours equivalent), Universite de la Sorbonne
- Bachelor of Arts, Murdoch University
Research
Research keywords
- Eighteenth-Century Europe
- History of Violence
- The French Revolution and Napoleon
- The Massacre in History
- War Memoirs
- War and Society
Research expertise
My research focus is on late eighteenth and early nineteenth century French and European history, with a particular interest in the history of European state-relations, political history as well as biography, and iconography. My current research has taken me into cultural history, war, memory and identity during the Napoleonic Wars. I am attempting to develop new ways of thinking about Napoleon and the period in which he lived. I have recently completed the second volume of my Napoleon biography as well as writing about war memoirs. As the Director of the Centre for the History of Violence, we welcome researchers exploring all aspects of violence, including its concepts, representations, and aftermaths, as well as questions of interpersonal, political and cultural violence.
Languages
- French
- German
Fields of Research
| Code | Description | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 210399 | Historical Studies Not Elsewhere Classified | 60 |
| 219999 | History And Archaeology Not Elsewhere Classified | 25 |
| 160699 | Political Science Not Elsewhere Classified | 15 |
Memberships
Body relevant to professional practice.
- Advisory Member - Council of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution, Florida State University,
Awards
Distinction.
| 2008 | Short-Listed, Prime Minister's Literary Awards Prime Minister's Office (Australia) Short-listed. |
|---|---|
| 2007 | National Biography Award State Library of NSW (Australia) National Biography Award |
Recognition.
| 2003 | Fellowship Grant Australian Academy of the Humanities (Australia) Fellowship Grant received from the Australian Academy of the Humanities |
|---|
Research Award.
| 2009 | Napoleon Australia Council (Australia) Writer's residency, Ledig House, New York. |
|---|---|
| 1996 | Studies in Prussian Foreign Policy Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (Germany) |
| 1993 | Fellowship Leverhulme Trust (United Kingdom) |
| 1991 | Prussian Foreign Policy German Historical Institute (United Kingdom) |
Collaboration
My research focus is on late eighteenth and early nineteenth century French and European history, with a particular interest in the history of European state-relations, political history as well as biography, and iconography. My current research has taken me into cultural history, war, memory and identity during the Napoleonic Wars. I am attempting to develop new ways of thinking about Napoleon and the period in which he lived.
More recently, and in collaboration with scholars in Australia, South Africa and North America, we have undertaken a study of massacre and colonization from 1780 to 1820. The project grapples with one of the most difficult issues in recent history- relations between the conquerors and the conquered. It is the first study to investigate the use of massacre as a military strategy of colonial expansion, and to place its incidence in the context of conquest across four continents in the same historical period. We are attempting to break new ground in how we think about the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries, the language used by historians to describe the process of conquest and colonization, and the extent to which massacre was used as a colonizing tool.
Teaching
Teaching keywords
- Biography
- Europe and the World
- Film and History
- History of Violence
- Modern European History
- The French Revolution and Napoleon
Grants and Funding
Summary
| Number of grants | 27 |
|---|---|
| Total funding | $503,900 |
For project grants received where the lead institution is other than the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics.
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
2013 (3 grants)
A history of Australia's live animal export trade$9,120
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer, Professor Lyndall Ryan, Dr Bidda Jones | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Linkage Pilot Research Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $9,120 | 2013 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1301097 | ||
2013 International Visitor - Valdik$4,932
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer, Assistant Professor Aparna Vaidik | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| DVCR International Visitor Support | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $4,932 | 2013 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1301110 | ||
Violence and Emotions in Europe 1400-1800, UWA Perth, 2 October 2013$750
Funding Body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $750 | 2013 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1301073 | ||
2011 (2 grants)
Massacre and Colonization, 1780-1820$240,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer, Professor Lyndall Ryan, Dr Barbara Mann, Associate Professor Nigel Penn | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Discovery Projects | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $240,000 | 2011 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1000022 | ||
Australasian Association for European History Conference, Perth, 11 - 14 July 2011$750
Funding Body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $750 | 2011 | 2012 |
| GNo:G1100837 | ||
2010 (2 grants)
Violence and Social Order Research Program$70,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts
| Scheme | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| Humanities Research Institute grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $70,000 | 2010 | 2011 |
| GNo:113421656 | ||
The Personality Cults of Modern Dictators, Institute for Germanic & Romance Studies, University of London, 22 - 23 October 2010$1,500
Funding Body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $1,500 | 2010 | 2011 |
| GNo:G1000823 | ||
2008 (1 grants)
Veteran culture and the military memoirs of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars$91,098
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Discovery Projects | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $91,098 | 2008 | 2010 |
| GNo:G0187479 | ||
2007 (2 grants)
Veteran Culture and the Military Memoirs of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars$7,038
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Pilot Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $7,038 | 2007 | 2007 |
| GNo:G0187871 | ||
Napoleon at the Zenith, Universtiy of Liverpool, 11/6/2007 - 13/6/2007$1,700
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $1,700 | 2007 | 2007 |
| GNo:G0187671 | ||
2006 (1 grants)
Consortium on the Revoluntionary Era,1750 - 1850 2-5 March 2006$2,075
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $2,075 | 2006 | 2006 |
| GNo:G0186141 | ||
2005 (1 grants)
74th Anglo-American Conference of Historians, 6-8 July 2005$2,400
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $2,400 | 2005 | 2005 |
| GNo:G0185592 | ||
2004 (2 grants)
Napoleon and the Empire: A study of the nature and impact of the Napoleonic Empire.$6,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Project Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $6,000 | 2004 | 2004 |
| GNo:G0183428 | ||
50th Annual Congress of the Society for French Historical Studies, 17-20 June 2004, France$2,400
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $2,400 | 2004 | 2004 |
| GNo:G0184134 | ||
2003 (3 grants)
Identity and Representation in Napoleon Bonaparte$8,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Project Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $8,000 | 2003 | 2003 |
| GNo:G0182331 | ||
Identity and Representation in Napoleon Bonaparte$4,000
Funding Body: Australian Academy of the Humanities
| Scheme | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| Research Award | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $4,000 | 2003 | 2003 |
| GNo:11681063 | ||
Consortium on Revolutionary Europe, Layfayette, USA 20-23 February 2003$2,400
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $2,400 | 2003 | 2003 |
| GNo:G0182645 | ||
2002 (1 grants)
48th Annual Meeting of the Society for French Historical Studies Toronto, Canada, 11-13 April 2002$2,095
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $2,095 | 2002 | 2002 |
| GNo:G0181697 | ||
2001 (1 grants)
Napoleon, France and Europe: A Reassessment.$5,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Project Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $5,000 | 2001 | 2001 |
| GNo:G0180007 | ||
2000 (1 grants)
Consortium on Revolutionary Europe, 1750-1850, Huntsville, Alabama, USA 2-5 March 2000.$1,708
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $1,708 | 2000 | 2000 |
| GNo:G0179832 | ||
1999 (1 grants)
12th Biennial Conference of the Australasian Association for European History Perth, WA$391
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $391 | 1999 | 1999 |
| GNo:G0179080 | ||
1998 (1 grants)
Talleyrand: A Biography.$5,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Project Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $5,000 | 1998 | 1998 |
| GNo:G0177340 | ||
1997 (2 grants)
Prussia during the French Revolutionry Wars, 1786-1815.$10,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Project Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $10,000 | 1997 | 1997 |
| GNo:G0176687 | ||
Internationale Hardenberg-Fachkonferenz Bad Homburg, Germany, 8-10 September 1997$2,136
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $2,136 | 1997 | 1997 |
| GNo:G0179453 | ||
1996 (2 grants)
Studies in Prussian Foreign Policy$10,000
Funding Body: Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst
| Scheme | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Investigator | ||
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $10,000 | 1996 | 1996 |
| GNo:11681083 | ||
Tenth George Rude Seminar - Melbourne - 12-15 July 1996$407
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $407 | 1996 | 1996 |
| GNo:G0176377 | ||
1995 (1 grants)
Studies in European diplomacy during the Napoleonic era$13,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Philip Dwyer | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| New Staff Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $13,000 | 1995 | 1995 |
| GNo:G0175195 | ||
Research Supervision
| Number of current supervisions | 4 |
|---|---|
| Total current UoN PhD EFTSL | 0.8 |
For supervisions undertaken at an institution other that the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics, and the institution name is listed below the program name.
Current Supervision
| Commenced | Proposed Completion | Program | Supervisor Type | Research Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2016 | PhD (History) | Co-Supervisor | Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. |
| 2012 | 2016 | PhD (History) | Co-Supervisor | The Politics of Piety: George and Thomas Boleyn in the English and European Reformation, 1520-1539 |
| 2011 | 2017 | PhD (English) | Co-Supervisor | Exploring the Experiences of a Light-Horseman Through Creative Non-Fiction Drawing on the Life of my Grandfather |
| 2008 | 2016 | PhD (History) | Principal Supervisor | Edward Christopher Merewether. A Study of Patronage in Bureaucracy, Business and Benefaction |
Past Supervision
| Year | Program | Supervisor Type | Research Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | M Arts (History) [R] | Principal Supervisor | The Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge: Establishing Identity Under the Union 1709-1715 |
| 2009 | Honours History University of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor | 1955 Referendum |
| 2009 | Honours History University of Newcasle | Principal Supervisor | Memory and the Vendee |
| 2000 | Honours History Univeresity of Newcastle | Principal Supervisor | Splendid Isolation |
| 1950 | Honours History University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor | The 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games |
| 1950 | Honours History University of Newcastle | Sole Supervisor | Film and Australian History |
| 1950 | Honours History University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor | The Incredible Shrinking Man |
Professor Philip Dwyer
| Work Phone | (02) 4921 5211 |
|---|---|
| Fax | (02) 4921 6940 |
| Philip.Dwyer@newcastle.edu.au | |
| Position | Professor School of Humanities and Social Science Faculty of Education and Arts |
| Focus Area | History |
| Office | MCLG20, McMullin Building, Callaghan University Drive Callaghan NSW 2308 Australia |
| URL: | www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/philip-dwyer |
News
Is the world really becoming less violent?
By Philip Dwyer, Director of the Centre for the History of Violence, Univer...
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