Michael Wood (historian)

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Michael Wood (historian) bigraphy, stories - English historian

Michael Wood (historian) : biography

23 July 1948 –

Michael David Wood (born 23 July 1948) is an English historian and broadcaster. He has presented numerous television documentary series, including Great Railway Journeys (1980), In Search of the Trojan War, Art of the Western World, Legacy: A Search for the Origins of Civilization, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, Conquistadors, In Search of Myths and Heroes and The Story of India (2007). He has also written a number of books on English history including In Search of the Dark Ages, The Domesday Quest, The Story of England and In Search of Shakespeare. The Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, University of Birmingham.

Honours

Wood was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). until 2007.According to Sue Carr, Executive Secretary of the Royal Historical Society Michael Wood ceased to be a Fellow of the RHS in 2007. In 2009, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts by Sunderland University. Shields Gazette, 17 July 2009. This was followed by an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Leicester in 2011.

Early life and education

Wood was born in Moss side, Manchester. He attended Heald Place Primary School in Rusholme, Manchester. When he was eight, his family moved to Wythenshawe, where he went to Benchill Primary School and later Manchester Grammar School where he developed an interest in theatre, playing Grusha in the first British amateur production of Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle. He studied A-levels in English, French and History.

He studied History and English at Oriel College, Oxford, touring the USA for six weeks in his final year. He graduated with a 2:1 Bachelor of Arts degree. Later he undertook post-graduate research in Anglo-Saxon History, also at Oriel. Three years into his research for a DPhil, he left to become a journalist with ITV. The Independent, 30 August 2007.

Documentaries

  • Darshan: An Indian Journey (1989)
  • Traveller’s Tales: The Sacred Way (1991)
  • Saddam’s Killing Fields (1993)
  • Sercret History: Hitler’s Search for the Holy Grail (1999)
  • Gilbert White: Nature Man (2006)
  • Christina: A Medieval Life (2008)
  • Alexander’s Greatest Battle (2009)
  • Christina – a Medieval Life (2013)

Career

In the 1970s Wood worked for the BBC in Manchester. He was first a reporter and then an assistant producer on current affairs programmes, before returning to his love of history with his 1979–81 series In Search of the Dark Ages for BBC2. This explored the lives of leaders of the period, including Boadicea, King Arthur, Offa, Alfred the Great, Athelstan, Eric Bloodaxe and William the Conqueror (and gave rise to his first book, based upon the series).http://www.amazon.com/Search-Dark-Ages-Michael-Wood/dp/0816047022 In Search of the Dark Ages (Revised Edition, 2001)

He quickly became popular with female viewers for his blond good looks (he was humorously dubbed "the thinking woman’s crumpet" by British newspapers), his deep voice, and his habit of wearing tight jeans and a sheepskin jacket. However, his ability to present history in striking and memorable ways has always drawn a diverse audience.

Wood’s work is also well known in the United States, where it receives much airplay on PBS and on various cable television networks. The series Legacy (1992) is one of his more frequently broadcast documentaries on U.S. television.

In 2006 he joined the British School of Archaeology in Iraq campaign, which aimed to train and encourage new Iraqi archaeologists, and he has lectured on the subject.

Personal life

His partner for several years, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, was journalist and broadcaster Pattie Coldwell., BBC News, 18 October 2002Anthony Hayward, , The Independent, 19 October 2002 He currently lives in north London with his wife, television producer Rebecca Ysabel Dobbs, and two daughters, Minakshi and Jyoti., Daily Express, 4 July 2008

Television series

  • In Search of the Dark Ages (1979–81)
  • Great Railway Journeys ("Zambezi Express", 1980)
  • Great Little Railways (episode 3: "Slow Train to Olympia", 1983)
  • In Search of The Trojan War (1985)
  • Domesday: A Search for the Roots of England (1986)
  • Art of the Western World (1989)
  • Legacy: A Search for the Origins of Civilization (1992)
  • In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (1997)
  • Conquistadors (2000)
  • In Search of Shakespeare (2003)
  • In Search of Myths and Heroes (2005)
  • The Story of India (2007)
  • Christina: A Medieval Life (2008)
  • In Search of Beowulf (2009) (a.k.a. Michael Wood on Beowulf)
  • Michael Wood’s Story of England (2010)
  • The Great British Story: A People’s History (2012)