Dr James Crossland
Humanities and Social Science
I am a Reader in International History, whose present research interests lie in the history of terrorism, societal fear, intelligence and propaganda. I am also a specialist in the history of international humanitarian law and the Red Cross movement, in particular during its formative years (1860s-1914). Beyond my research endeavours, I am Co-Director of LJMU's Centre for Modern and Contemporary History and Postgraduate Coordinator for the School of Humanities and Social Science.
I have recently completed my third book, 'The Rise of Devils: Fear and the Origins of Modern Terrorism' (Manchester University Press, 2023), which examines the development of international terrorism across the transatlantic world during the late nineteenth century. This book is part of a wider project that focuses on the political and societal impacts of fear narratives and fake news during the period of 1850s-1914. This project commenced in 2019 with articles on the forgotten French invasion scare of 1858 in Britain (Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Sep 2019), and the dissemination of the greatly-feared terrorist superweapon - the "Orsini Bomb" - across the transatlantic world (Terrorism and Political Violence, June 2021). As part of this project, I convened the 'Britain Afraid: Imperial Insecurities and National Fears' conference at LJMU in June 2022, bringing together researchers from the UK, Europe and the United States to discuss the role played by anxieties and fears in Britain's history. The media engagement to date with this fear and fake news project, combined with the positive reception to 'Rise of Devils' - described by one reviewer as 'a fascinating exploration of the long nineteenth century’s development of terrorism and counterterrorism, highlighting the role of fear and the paranoia, repression, and overreaction it engendered' - will form the basis of an Impact Case Study for REF2026.
I currently have two other research projects in development. The first is a study of the colonial origins of British counter-terrorism doctrine, which is funded by a Leverhulme Research Project Grant (£113,000). Using a novel prosopographical approach, this three-year project will produce new insights into how colonial experiences developed paranoid institutional cultures within Special Branch and MI5 during their formative years (1880s-1920s). My second project is a study of strategic propaganda during the 1930s and 1940s, from which the key output will be a biography of an historical figure whom I have long had a deep interest in - Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart, the wartime head of the clandestine propaganda organisation, the Political Warfare Executive.
Prior to my work on terrorism, fear and propaganda, I spent the better part of a decade researching the history of the Red Cross movement and the development of international humanitarian law. My primary work from these years was 'War, Law and Humanity: The Campaign to Control Warfare, 1853-1914' (Bloomsbury, 2018), the first comprehensive history of the transatlantic responses of humanitarian groups, army surgeons, international lawyers and pacifists to the changing nature of warfare in the decades leading up to the First World War. As part of my work on the Red Cross, I also received a British Academy Small Grant (£6,952), and completed my first monograph, 'Britain and the International Committee of the Red Cross, 1939-1945' (Palgrave, 2014). This was a study of Britain's humanitarian policy and the politicisation of international humanitarian law during the Second World War. My years of research into the history of the Red Cross were crowned by 'The Red Cross Movement: Myths, Practices and Turning Points' (Manchester University Press, 2020), a compilation of essays on the history of the movement by leading scholars in the fields of medical history and humanitarian studies, that I co-edited with Prof. Melanie Oppenheimer (Flinders) and Prof. Neville Wylie (Stirling). I am also on the advisory board of the Australian Research Council-funded project 'Resilient Humanitarianism' project, an international collaboration that seeks to map the understudied history of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
I am open to PhD supervisions in the following areas:
- Terrorism/political violence
- Wartime humanitarianism and Red Cross history
- Intelligence studies
- Propaganda
- Cultures of warfare from the period of 1800s-1940s.
I lead the following modules:
- The Age of Terror, 1850-1914 (Level 5)
- Laws of War (Level 6)
- War/Peace Cycle (Level 7)
Degrees
2010, Murdoch University, Australia, PhD
2007, University of Western Australia, Australia, BA Hons
Highlighted publications
Crossland J. 2023. The Rise of Devils: Fear and the Origins of Modern Terrorism (Manchester University Press) 9781526160676 Publisher Url
Crossland J. 2020. The Red Cross Movement: Myths, Practices and Turning "Points Crossland JN, Wylie N, Oppenheimer M. , eds. (Manchester University Press) 9781526133519 Publisher Url
Crossland JN. 2018. War, Law and Humanity: the Campaign to Control Warfare, 1853-1914. Bloomsbury 9781350041233 Publisher Url
Crossland J. 2014. Britain and the International Committee of the Red Cross, 1939-1945 Palgrave 978-1-137-39957-1 Publisher Url
Chapters
Crossland J. 2023. 'The Original “Spectacular”? The Intentions and Impacts of the 1858 Orsini Bombing' Wrightson (ed.) G. Terrorism Through the Ages (Brill, forthcoming 2023)
Crossland J, Rønnebu GL. 2020. 'The Red Cross “Shield”: The Semiotic Duality of the Red Cross during the Occupation of Norway, 1940-1945' Jacob (ed.) F. War and Semiotics Signs, Communication Systems, and the Preparation, Legitimization, and Commemoration of Collective Mass Violence (Routledge) 9780367504069
Crossland JN. 2020. 'The Americans Lead the Way: The United States Sanitary Commission and the Development of the Red Cross, 1861-1871' in Crossland J, Wylie N, Oppenheimer, eds. M. The Red Cross Movement: Myths, Practices and Turning Points (Manchester University Press) 978-1-5261-3351-9
Book
Crossland J. 2023. The Rise of Devils: Fear and the Origins of Modern Terrorism (Manchester University Press) 9781526160676 Publisher Url
Crossland J. 2020. The Red Cross Movement: Myths, Practices and Turning "Points Crossland JN, Wylie N, Oppenheimer M. , eds. (Manchester University Press) 9781526133519 Publisher Url
Crossland JN. 2018. War, Law and Humanity: the Campaign to Control Warfare, 1853-1914. Bloomsbury 9781350041233 Publisher Url
Crossland J. 2014. Britain and the International Committee of the Red Cross, 1939-1945 Palgrave 978-1-137-39957-1 Publisher Url
Internet publication
Crossland J. 2021. 'A Rebel with Every Cause: The Extraordinary Insurrections of Gustave Paul Cluseret', History Today, Vol.71, Issue 10 Publisher Url
Crossland J. 2021. 'The Women who Ended an Emperor', History Workshop Journal, Publisher Url
Crossland J. 2021. 'The First Bomb Disposal Expert: Colonel Vivian Majendie and the Original ‘"War on Terror’", The Conversation, Publisher Url
Crossland J. 2020. 'The Enemies Within: Reflections on a Terrorist Spectacular', History Today, Vol.70, Issue. 9, Publisher Url
Crossland J. 2018. 'Fake News is Old News: Britain's Psychological Warfare Campaign during the Second World War', History Today, Vol.68, Issue.11, Publisher Url
Crossland J. 2018. 'Syria’s White Helmets and the Long History of Attacking Wartime Humanitarians' Publisher Url
Journal article
Crossland JN. 2021. Radical Warfare’s First “Superweapon”: The Fears, Perceptions and Realities of the Orsini Bomb, 1858-1896 Terrorism and Political Violence, DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Crossland JN. 2019. Fearing for Merseyside: Liverpool and the French Invasion Scare of 1858-1859' Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 168 :139-153 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Crossland JN, Wylie N. 2016. The Korean War and the Post-war Prisoner of War Regime, 1945–1956 War in History, 23 :439-456 DOI Author Url Publisher Url Public Url
Crossland JN. 2013. The Mutiny that Never Was: The Special Operations Executive and the Failure of Operation ‘Kitchenmaid’ Intelligence and National Security, :808-823 DOI Publisher Url
w/ Edele M, Finaldi G, Crossland J. 2012. , eds. 'War and Peace, Barbarism and Civilization' Special Edition of the Australian Journal of Politics and History (editor) Australian Journal of Politics and History,
Crossland JN. 2011. 2011. A Man of Peaceable Intent: Burckhardt, the British and Red Cross Neutrality during the Second World War Historical Research, :165-182 DOI Publisher Url
Crossland JN. 2010. 2010. Expansion, Suspicion and the Development of the International Committee of the Red Cross, 1939-1945 Australian Journal of Politics and History, :381-392 DOI Publisher Url
Crossland JN. 2009. 2009. Beyond the Wire: Allied POWs in the Second World War, the POW 'myth' and Future Realities European History Quarterly, :662-669
Conference publication
Crossland J, Edele M, Finaldi G. 2012. 2012. War and Peace, Barbarism and Civilization in Modern Europe and Its Empires Crossland JN. Australian Journal of Politics and History, 58 (2012) DOI Publisher Url
Other invited event:
Historical Association Annual Conference, Majestic Hotel, Harrogate, Talk on 'Fear, Fake News and the First Age of Terror'. 2023
Handa Centre For the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence Speaker Series, University of St Andrews, Talk on 'Dangerous Knowledge: Reportage of Political Violence and the Spread of International Terrorism'. 2023
Historic-All Festival, Cambourne Village College, Talk on 'The First War on Terror'. 2022
'Truth, Lies and History: Being an Historian in the Age of Fake News', Rylands Library, Manchester, Panel discussion for Institute of Historical Research. 2019
Media Coverage:
Interview discussing 'Rise of Devils' - Dan Snow's History Hit, 18 January 2023 2023
Interview discussing 80th anniversary of Rudolf Hess' flight to Scotland - BBC, 10 May 2021 2021
Interview discussing 'War, Law and Humanity' – Talk Nation Radio US, 27 November 2018
Interview discussing blockade during the Second World War - WW2 Podcast, 15 Dec 2018
Invited Talk on 'Fake News is Old News' – Skeptics Society, 20 September 2018
Interview on 'Fake News in History' – 1823 Podcast, 11 October 2019
Interview discussing 'War, Law and Humanity' - New Books Network, 27 May 2019
'Syria's White Helmets and the History of Humanitarian Relief' – Yahoo News, 14 August 2018
Podcast discussing 'Enemies Within' article, 28 August 2020
'Syria's White Helmets and the History of Humanitarian Relief' – Irish Examiner, 15 August 2018
Interview on 'The Forgotten People of the War' – 1823 Podcast, 14 November 2018
Research Grants Awarded:
Everett Helm Fellowship, University of Indiana, The Life and Times of Robert Bruce Lockhart, Grant value (£): 2,500, Duration of research project: 1 year. 2022
Leverhulme Trust, Research Project Grant, Anxiety, Prejudice, Paranoia: Shaping British Intelligence Culture, 1880s-1920s, Grant value (£): 113,000, Duration of research project: 3 Years. 2022
British Academy, Small Grant, 'Humanizing Hell: The International History of the United States Sanitary Commission, 1861-1871', Grant value (£): 6,952, Duration of research project: 3 years. 2018
Murdoch Distinguished Collaborator Fund, Murdoch University, 'Humanitarian Diplomacy, 1864-1945', Prof Nevile Wylie, Grant value (£): 15,000, Duration of research project: 3 years. 2013
Conference organisation:
Britain Afraid: Imperial Insecurities and National Fears, 1798-1945 - International Conference at LJMU, 21-22 June 2022, Convener. 2022
Histories of the Red Cross Movement Since 1919 - International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (June 2019), Convener. 2019
Histories of the Red Cross: Continuities and Change Conference - Flinders University (Sep 2016), Convener. 2016
Membership of professional bodies:
Fellow, Royal Historical Society, (RHS).
Member, Humanitarian Working Histories Group (HWH).
Member, Invasion History Network, https://invasionnetwork.wordpress.com/.
External committees:
Resilient Humanitarianism: The League of Red Cross Societies and Red Crescent Societies, 1919-1991, University of Stirling, University of Hull, Flinders University, Independent Expert on Advisory Board, https://sites.flinders.edu.au/resilient-humanitarianism/.
Editorial boards:
The Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Editorial board member.