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Christopher Munro Clark

クリストファー・M・クラーク

Christopher Munro Clark

Aliases: Chris Clark

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1960-03-14 （Sydney, Australia）
Nationality
Australian
Languages
English
Residence History
United Kingdom (Cambridge) → Germany (Berlin, etc.) → Australia (birthplace)

Career

Occupations
Historian, University professor, Researcher, Documentary presenter
Active Years
1991-
Affiliations
St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge, Australian Academy of the Humanities, German Historical Institute London (advisory member), Preußische Historische Kommission (Prussian Historical Commission)
Memberships
Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Preußische Historische Kommission (Prussian Historical Commission)
Influenced By
Jonathan Steinberg (doctoral advisor), German historiography and its scholars
Influenced
Influence on younger historians and general readers
Nominations
Cundill Prize (2013, finalist), Hessell-Tiltman Prize (2013, shortlist)

Education

Sydney Grammar School
Period: 1972–1978
Year of Graduation: 1978
Country: Australia
Secondary education. Attended 1972–1978.
University of Sydney
Department of History
Degree: B.A.
Country: Australia
BA in History. Graduation year uncertain.
Freie Universität Berlin
Period: 1985–1987
Country: Germany
Study/research period (visitor).
University of Cambridge (Pembroke College)
History
Degree: PhD
Period: 1987–1991
Year of Graduation: 1991
Country: United Kingdom
PhD thesis: 'Jewish mission in the Christian state' (1991).

Awards

Wolfson History Prize
2007
Work: Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947
Organization: Wolfson Foundation
Result: winner
H-Soz-u-Kult prize (Das historische Buch)
2007
Work: Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947
Organization: H-Soz-u-Kult
Result: winner
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards (History Book Award)
2007
Work: Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947
Category: History
Organization: Government of Queensland
Result: winner
New South Wales Premier's History Awards (General History Prize)
2007
Work: Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947
Category: History
Organization: Government of New South Wales
Result: winner
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Officer's Cross)
2010
Organization: Federal Republic of Germany
Result: recipient
German Historians' Prize
2010
Work: Preußen: Aufstieg und Niedergang 1600–1947 (German edition of Iron Kingdom)
Organization: German historians' prize organization
Result: winner
Los Angeles Times Book Prize (History)
2013
Work: The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
Category: History
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: winner
Cundill Prize
2013
Work: The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
Organization: Cundill Prize (McGill University)
Result: finalist
Hessell-Tiltman Prize
2013
Work: The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
Organization: PEN/Hessell-Tiltman Prize organizers
Result: shortlist
Laura Shannon Prize
2015
Work: The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
Organization: Nanovic Institute (University of Notre Dame)
Result: winner
Knight Bachelor
2015
Organization: The Crown (United Kingdom)
Result: honour
European Prize for Political Culture
2018
Organization: European Prize organizers (Bundestag-related)
Result: recipient
Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts
2019
Organization: Pour le Mérite organization
Result: member
Doctorate of Letters (honoris causa)
2024
Organization: University of Sydney
Result: honorary degree

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Jewish mission in the Christian state: Protestant missions to the Jews in 18th- and 19th-century Prussia

1991 Academic history

Based on his PhD thesis. Investigates Protestant missions to Jews in Prussia and their implications for church–state relations.

Church–state relationsPrussian historyJewish studies

Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947

2006 History (comprehensive) 800 pages

A wide-ranging history of Prussia from 1600 to 1947. Reassesses notions of German uniqueness and traces Prussia's rise and eventual downfall.

State formationComparative historyChurch and state
Translations
  • Preußen: Aufstieg und Niedergang 1600–1947 (German edition)

Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Life in Power

2000 Biography / History

A critical biography of Wilhelm II that offers corrective perspectives on earlier biographies.

BiographyPower and politics

The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914

2012 History (World War I) 560 pages

Reconstructs the lead-up to World War I as a complex chain of decisions and misjudgements across multiple states, challenging simple assignations of guilt.

Diplomatic historyDecision-making processesCauses of war
Translations
  • Die Schlafwandler: Wie Europa in den Ersten Weltkrieg zog (German edition)

Time and Power – Visions of History in German Politics, from the Thirty Years' War to the Third Reich

2019 History / Political thought

Examines how historical visions and concepts of time in German politics influenced policy and notions of power across centuries.

HistoriographyPolitical culture

Bibliography

  • Jewish mission in the Christian state: Protestant missions to the Jews in 18th- and 19th-century Prussia (PhD thesis, 1991)
  • The Politics of Conversion: Missionary Protestantism and the Jews in Prussia, 1728–1941 (1995)
  • Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Life in Power (2000)
  • Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947 (2006)
  • The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 (2012)
  • Time and Power – Visions of History in German Politics (2019)
  • Prisoners of Time – Prussians, Germans and Other Humans (2021)
  • Revolutionary Spring – Fighting for a New World 1848–1849 (2023)

Adaptations

  • Frederick the Great and the Enigma of Prussia (BBC Four documentary, presenter)
  • The Story of Europe (ZDF documentary, 2017, presenter/narrator)
  • Planet of Treasures (ZDF/2020, presenter)

Translations of Works

  • Preußen: Aufstieg und Niedergang 1600–1947
  • Die Schlafwandler: Wie Europa in den Ersten Weltkrieg zog

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Scholarly yet accessible proseComparative and transnational perspective
Recurring Motifs
Interaction of state and religionModernization and identity formationMisjudgements in diplomatic decision-making

Legacy

An Australian historian based in the UK, known for wide-ranging comparative historical studies that have influenced both scholars and general readers. Works such as Iron Kingdom and The Sleepwalkers achieved international recognition and multiple awards; his research has contributed to Anglo–German understanding.

Academic Societies

  • British Academy
  • Australian Academy of the Humanities

Archives

  • University of Cambridge (possible holdings of related papers/lectures)
  • St Catharine's College archives

In Popular Culture

  • Popularizing history through television documentary presentations

Quotes

  • "Not the fulfillment of Prussia's destiny but its downfall."
    Source: Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947 (2006)

Trivia

  • Awarded the German Historians' Prize in 2010; the youngest recipient and first non-native German speaker at the time.
  • Knighted (Knight Bachelor) in 2015.
  • Iron Kingdom achieved wide readership and influenced both academic and general audiences.
  • Married with two sons.
  • Appointed Regius Professor of History at Cambridge in 2014.