Projects per year
Personal profile
Interests
Paul Corthorn is Professor of Modern British History. His research and teaching is concerned with twentieth-century British history, especially its political and international dimensions. He has worked extensively on the politics of the Left and on various aspects of the Cold War in Britain. His first book, In the Shadow of the Dictators: The British Left in the 1930s, was published in 2006. He has been joint editor of the Labour History Review since 2012.
Paul Corthorn's book about Enoch Powell, the Conservative and Ulster Unionist MP, was published by Oxford University Press in 2019. He is Principal Investigator (PI) of the research project on 'Conservatism and Unionism in the UK, 1968-1997', funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and running from 2023 to 2026.
Paul Corthorn was previously Co-Investigator (CI) of the Leverhulme-funded project 'The Politics of Consumer Credit in the UK, 1938-1992', which resulted in a co-authored monograph published by Oxford University Press in 2018.
Paul Corthorn studied at the universities of Cambridge and Durham. Before coming to Queen’s in 2006, he held lectureships at Anglia Ruskin, Liverpool and Oxford universities. In 2009 he won a QUB ‘Rising Stars’ Teaching Award. In 2012 he was an Archives By-Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge. In 2015 he organised an international conference at Queen's on 'Socialism and the Cold War in Western Europe'. In 2017 he hosted a Royal Historical Society international symposium at Queen's on 'Researching and Teaching Controversial History'.
Paul Corthorn was invited to sit on the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) History Subject Review Panel in 2014. More recently, he has served on the Steering Committee of History UK, the body representing all History departments, and was co-opted to the Royal Historical Society Education Policy Committee.
At Queen's, Paul Corthorn was Director of Education in the former School of History and Anthropology between 2014 and 2016. He was also Director of Graduate Studies in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP) between 2021 and 2024.
Teaching
Paul Corthorn teaches on the following programmes / modules:
Undergraduate
HIS1002 | Exploring History 2 (option on 'International History in the Twentieth Century') |
HIS2018 | The Making of Contemporary Britain |
HIS3127 | Thatcher's Britain |
Postgraduate
MHY7011 | Individually Negotiated Topic |
MHY7090 | Pathways Through History |
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 3 Active
-
R1679HAP: Conservatism and Unionism in the UK, 1968-1997
Corthorn, P. (PI)
23/06/2022 → …
Project: Research
-
R2806HIS: The politics of consumer credit in the UK, 1938-1992
O'Connell, S. (PI) & Corthorn, P. (CoI)
01/08/2011 → …
Project: Research
-
R1962HIS: Cold war politics in Britain and the memory of the Spanish Civil War
Corthorn, P. (PI)
01/08/2008 → …
Project: Research
-
The British Conservative Party, the Cold War and the 1980 Olympic boycott
Corthorn, P., 01 Mar 2022, (Accepted) Olympic boycotts and the Second Cold War. Edelman, R., Ostermann, C. & Young, C. (eds.). Cornell University PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
-
Ulster Unionist political thought in the era of the Northern Ireland Troubles, 1968-1998
Corthorn, P., Dec 2022, In: English Historical Review. 137, 589, p. 1760–1791 32 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile96 Downloads (Pure) -
Enoch Powell, Parliament and Europe
Corthorn, P., 03 Feb 2021, In: Parliamentary History. 40, 1, p. 212-227 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile144 Downloads (Pure) -
Enoch Powell, the Commonwealth and Brexit
Corthorn, P., 18 Nov 2020, In: The Round Table. The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs. 109, 6, p. 750-751 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
-
Enoch Powell: Politics and Ideas in Modern Britain
Corthorn, P., 22 Aug 2019, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 233 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
Prizes
-
Awarded By-Fellowship at Churchill College, Cambridge, Easter Term 2012
Corthorn, Paul (Recipient), Apr 2012
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
-
Co-Investigator (with 50% ownership) of Leverhulme Trust project 'The Politics of Consumer Credit in the UK, 1938-1992'
Corthorn, Paul (Recipient), Mar 2012
Prize: Other distinction
-
Election to Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society
Corthorn, Paul (Recipient), 2007
Prize: Election to learned society
-
Principal Investigator of British Academy project 'Cold War Politics in Britain and the Memory of the Spanish Civil War'
Corthorn, Paul (Recipient), Jul 2008
Prize: Other distinction
-
Principal Investigator on AHRC standard research grant entitled 'Conservatism and Unionism in the UK, 1968-1997'
Corthorn, Paul (Recipient), Jun 2022
Prize: Other distinction
Activities
-
Organiser of international conference at Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) on 'Conservatism and Unionism in the UK, 1968-1997'
Paul Corthorn (Organiser)
04 Dec 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
-
Co-organiser of international workshop at the National Library of Scotland on 'Conservatism and Unionism in the UK, 1968-1997'
Paul Corthorn (Organiser)
16 Jun 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
-
Paper at the European Social Science History Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden
Paul Corthorn (Participant)
15 Apr 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
-
Talk on Enoch Powell book at Oxford Literary Festival
Paul Corthorn (Invited speaker)
26 Mar 2023Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
-
Panel member at QUB Fellowship Academy annual event on PGR supervision
Paul Corthorn (Advisor)
03 Mar 2023Activity: Consultancy types › CPD delivery/organisation of courses for externals (in kind)
Press/Media
-
Coverage of AHRC grant in the News Letter - 11 October 2022
11/10/2022
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
-
Article in the Irish Times - 9 September 2022
09/09/2022
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
-
Interviewee on BBC Radio 1Xtra Talks on 'Representation Politics' - 31 July 2022
31/07/2022
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
-
Citation of Enoch Powell book in the i - 15 December 2020
15/12/2020
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
-
Citation of Enoch Powell book in the Observer - 12 December 2020
12/12/2020
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research