Alan Sked

Alan Sked FRHistS (born 22 August 1947) is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, and is politically active, opposing Britain's membership of the European Union; he several times stood as a candidate in parliamentary elections, and founded the party that became the UK Independence Party.

Early life

He studied history at Glasgow, then Merton College, Oxford.

Academic career

His doctoral supervisor at Oxford was A. J. P. Taylor, who was a major influence on Sked. In particular, Sked's writings on the Habsburg Monarchy owe much to Taylor, although their interpretations are very different. In addition to writing on Habsburg history, he has written texts on British political and European history. His books have been translated into German, Italian, Czech, Portuguese, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese.

At LSE he teaches courses on US and modern intellectual history, and on the history of sex, race and slavery. Sked is a member of the British-American Project, which exists to promote Britain’s political ties to the US.