Dr David Clampin
Humanities and Social Science
Faculty of Arts Professional and Social Studies
Email: D.J.Clampin@ljmu.ac.uk
Telephone: 0151 231 5173
David Clampin is Subject Leader for History and associated Programmes, as well as a historian of the British home front during the Second World War with a particular interest in the nature of everyday life between 1939 and 1945. As such, the focus of his research to date has been concerned with morale and the nature of propaganda in attempting to affect that. He holds an MA in Propaganda, Persuasion and History from the University of Kent and a PhD from Aberystwyth University which examined the role of British press advertising during the Second World War, reading this as a window onto the everyday practices, ambitions and desires of the British people at this time. One of the key themes of his research relates to the durability of routine and the importance of ‘normalcy’ in coping with the extraordinary nature of wartime life. This is particularly pronounced where the British people experienced direct contact with the war during the heavy bombing raids of the Blitz. Drawing on a variety of primary resources, most notably the Mass-Observation Archive, an impression is conveyed of a more inward looking society, concerned with local pride and a determination to protect one’s own livelihood, rather than any more outward looking or vainglorious motivation. These themes were further explored and developed in his monograph of 2014 'Advertising and Propaganda in World War II: Cultural Identity and the Blitz-spirit' (I.B.Tauris).
Whilst his first love is the British home front of the Second World War, he has also undertaken research examining Tate & Lyle’s cartoon character, Mr Cube, and a major project in association with Merseyside Maritime Museum examining the marketing of British shipping between c.1840 to c.1970 one output of which has been a major exhibition 2014/15, 'Sail Away. Liverpool Shipping Posters at the Maritime Museum'.
Aspects of his research are informed by a previous career in advertising and marketing, notably working for Campaign magazine, Capital Radio Group, and BBC Worldwide.
Supervision areas
I am particularly keen to hear from research students with interests in British popular culture through the twentieth century and particularly in relation to life on the British home front during the Second World War. I also have an interest in prospective students working on propaganda, the history of the British popular press from c.1855, the British merchant marine, and consumer culture, alongside the history of marketing and advertising.
Highlighted publications
Clampin DJ, White NJ. 2017. ‘Is it essential that a steamship company’s posters must have a ship?’ The shortcomings of British shipping posters c.1840 to c.1970 Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, 9 :386-424 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Clampin DJ. 2017. ‘Not the least of all that you will prize among the blessings of peace’: Commercial Advertising and Imagining the Postwar World in Britain. The Consumer on the Home Front Second World War Civilian Consumption in Comparative Perspective Oxford University Press, USA 9780198784265 Publisher Url
Clampin D. 2014. Advertising and Propaganda in World War II I B Tauris & Company Limited 9781780764344 Publisher Url
Chapters
Clampin DJ. 2017. ‘our lovely countryside’. Capturing the image of Britain at war in commercial advertising 1939 – 1945. Murray A. Constructing the Memory of War in Visual Culture since 1914: The Eye on War Routledge 978-1138502970
Clampin DJ. 2017. ‘Not the least of all that you will prize among the blessings of peace’: Commercial Advertising and Imagining the Postwar World in Britain. The Consumer on the Home Front Second World War Civilian Consumption in Comparative Perspective Oxford University Press, USA 9780198784265 Publisher Url
Clampin DJ. 2007. Between Representations and Practices. Commercial Advertising and British Home Front Culture During the Second World War Crone R, Gange D, Jones K. New Perspectives in British Cultural History :118-133 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 9781847181558
Journal article
Clampin DJ, White NJ. 2017. ‘Is it essential that a steamship company’s posters must have a ship?’ The shortcomings of British shipping posters c.1840 to c.1970 Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, 9 :386-424 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Clampin DJ. 2017. Building the meaning of the Second World War on the British home front in commercial press advertising Media History, DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Clampin DJ. 2016. A farewell to ahistoricism Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, 8 :595-598 DOI Publisher Url Public Url
Clampin DJ, Noon R. 2010. The Maverick Mr. Cube: The Resurgence of Commercial Marketing in Postwar Britain Witkowski T. Journal of Macromarketing, 31 :19-31
Clampin DJ. 2008. ‘The war has turned our lives upside-down’: The Merit of Commercial Advertising in Documenting the Cultural History of the British Home Front in the Second World War Visual Resources, 24 :145-158
Clampin D. 2008. "TO GUIDE, HELP AND HEARTEN MILLIONS": THE PLACE OF COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING IN WARTIME BRITAIN, 1939-1945 JOURNAL OF MACROMARKETING, 28 :86-86 Author Url
Books (authored)
Clampin D. 2014. Advertising and Propaganda in World War II I B Tauris & Company Limited 9781780764344 Publisher Url
Internet publication
Clampin DJ. Commercial advertising as propaganda in World War One Publisher Url
Book review
Clampin DJ. Revolutions from Grub Street: A History of Magazine Publishing in Britain History: the journal of the Historical Association, 100 :138-139
Clampin D. Home Fronts: Britain and the Empire at War, 1939–45, ed. Mark J Crowley and Sandra Trudgen Dawson The English Historical Review,
Clampin D. Protecting the people: the central office of information and the reshaping of Post-War Britain Cultural and Social History,
Clampin D. Churchill's Children: The Evacuee Experience in Wartime Britain Contemporary British History,
Clampin D. Dying for the Nation: Death, Grief and Bereavement in Second World War Britain Cultural and Social History, DOI Publisher Url
Award:
My Life in Advertising: Being Human. A Festival of the Humanities, AHRC/British Academy, http://beinghumanfestival.org/. 2014
Teaching qualification:
Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. 2009
Media Coverage:
'WW1: How firms cashed in on the war' by Simon Armstrong, BBC News online magazine.
Conference organisation:
Conference on Historical Analysis and Research in Marketing (CHARM), Board Member. Programme Chair 2015, http://faculty.quinnipiac.edu/charm/.
Fellowships:
Fellow, Higher Education Academy, https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/.
Membership of professional bodies:
Member, Economic History Society, http://www.ehs.org.uk/.
Member, Royal Historical Society, http://royalhistsoc.org/.