I’m Tom and I am studying a part-time Research Masters at Kent with a focus on the political and diplomatic relations between Britain and Hanover during the Napoleonic Wars. As the two countries were tied in a Dynastic Union under the Georgian Monarchy my research aims to discover whether Britain and Hanover benefited from the Union, and to determine whether the Union was considered to be one of equal partners or if one country assumed superiority over the other.

The Age of Revolution project ties into my research but also feeds my interest in other issues of the period. I have a keen interest in the political turmoil of the French Revolution and how various political theories came and went before being overthrown by Napoleons coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799. A more specific theme of interest is the growth of nationalist ideologies in the early 19th century such as in Germany or Italy, and how such ideals were manipulated by political figures on both sides of the Napoleonic conflict.

In the years between my Undergraduate graduation in 2014 and the resumption of my academic studies in 2018 I took the opportunity to privately study other periods of interest and visit sites I feel have important cultural and historical significance in Europe such as the Duomo in Florence, Les Invalides in Paris, and the Palace of Versailles. Outside of academia I tend to relax by reading yet more history, but on subjects that I have little prior understanding of that don’t have any direct link to my academic work; a current example being the spread of Christianity through the Roman Empire and the destructive aspect towards classical architecture and sculptures that this entailed.

When on the odd occasion I need a break from the past I take my dog for a long walk, the aim being to relax, the reality being that I end up mentally composing my next piece of work and subsequently forgetting most of it when I get home!