Rate My Professor Philip Dwyer

Emeritus Professor Philip Dwyer is a distinguished historian and Emeritus Professor in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Science (History) at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He obtained his PhD from the University of Western Australia, Bachelor of Arts from Murdoch University, and advanced qualifications from the Université de la Sorbonne, including Licence, Maîtrise, and Diplôme d'Études Approfondies from the École Pratique des Hautes Études. Dwyer commenced his academic career at the University of Newcastle in 1994 as a Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Arts, progressing to Professor in 2012. He served as Director of the Centre for the Study of Violence from 2012 to 2021, establishing it as an international research hub for violence studies through interdisciplinary collaboration. Additionally, he was Assistant Dean for Research in the Faculty of Education and Arts in 2018.

Dwyer's research focuses on the history of violence, encompassing global patterns, memory, war experiences, massacres, and aftermaths of violence across interpersonal, political, and cultural dimensions. His earlier work centered on eighteenth-century Europe, particularly the French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire. He has authored award-winning biographies, including the Napoleon trilogy—Napoleon: The Path to Power (2008, National Biography Award winner), Citizen Emperor: Napoleon in Power (2013), and Napoleon: Passion, Death and Resurrection, 1815-1840 (2018)—as well as Violence: A Very Short Introduction (2022). Dwyer co-edited the four-volume Cambridge World History of Violence (2020) and the three-volume Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars (2022), alongside other edited collections such as Violence, Colonialism and Empire in the Modern World (2018) and Theatres of Violence (2012). His accolades include shortlistings for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards (2014), NSW Premier’s Literary Awards (2015), Fulbright Senior Scholar (2019), All Souls Visiting Fellow (2020), and Rockefeller Foundation residency (2014). Dwyer has delivered public lectures, including "Broken Bones, Broken Stones: Iconoclasm in World History" at Trinity College Dublin (2020), and serves on the Advisory Council of the Florida State University Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution. His scholarship has significantly advanced the interdisciplinary study of violence in history.