Dr. Michael Reeve

Michael Reeve is a social and cultural historian, interested in modern war and conflict, particularly military and civilian health and wellbeing, welfare and resilience. His current work is concerned with tobacco consumption and smoking practices in the context of modernity and conflict, focusing on major wars involving Britain and its empire during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This follows the recent publication of his first book on the civilian experience of bombardment in the coastal-urban context. Michael is an interdisciplinary historian, whose research takes into account social, cultural, political, economic, material and spatial factors, looking at both macro and micro scales (from global forces and the actions of governments, to the activities of ordinary people, individuals and groups, as well as ‘non-human’ actants). He is also interested in engaging with policy-makers in public health and with scholars spanning the arts, humanities, social sciences and health sciences. In addition to his teaching, academic research and policy work, Michael has also curated museum exhibitions, appeared on TV and radio broadcasts, featured on (and co-hosted) podcasts, and written for newspapers and edited blogs.

Michael is currently Lecturer in Modern British History at The Open University and Co-Chair of HistoryLab+ at the Institute of Historical Research.

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Latest publication (September 2025): ‘A Panacea for Wounds and Panic: Tobacco, Alcohol and Well-being on the Western Front during the First World War’, in the edited collection Well-being Past and Present: The History and Contemporary Practice of a Cultural Phenomenon in Britain.

Recent talk:
– Society for the History of War annual conference, Bundeswehr Centre of Military History and Social Sciences, University of Potsdam, 27-28 November 2025.

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