David Brydan is a historian of the 20th century, including the history of intelligence (cleverness, not spies), internationalism, and modern Spain.

He is currently writing a book on the modern history of intelligence (forthcoming in 2025), which explores how the idea of intelligence, particularly high intelligence, became embedded in modern life and the way we think about inequality. He also works on the history of internationalism in the 20th century, including the history of right-wing and fascist forms of international cooperation, and the history of humanitarianism. He is editor of the Bloomsbury Histories of Internationalism book series, and the co-editor of the book Internationalists in European History: Rethinking the Twentieth Century. The other strand of his work examines the international dimensions of modern Spanish history. His first book, Franco’s Internationalists: Social Experts and Spain’s Search for Legitimacy is available open access from Oxford University Press.

David completed his PhD at Birkbeck, University of London, and has worked at King’s since 2018. He is currently the Senior Tutor in the History department.

Research interests and PhD supervision 

• The history of internationalism and humanitarianism. I am particularly interested in the religious dimensions of the history of internation cooperation and humanitarianism, as well as right-wing, authoritarian, and anti-communist forms of internationalism, and the history of the international health and refugee relief.
• The history of intelligence, including intelligence science, everyday ideas about what intelligence means, intelligence and the history of technology, and ideas about cognitive elites and inequality.
• The history of Spain in the 20th century, including Spain’s relationship to the rest of the world, and the history of Spanish humanitarianism

Teaching

I teach various aspects of modern international history, including the history of internationalism and the history of the Spanish Civil War.

Expertise and public engagement 

I speak and write on the history of intelligence and its relevance to modern debates, including about AI. I have written for publications like El País and the Huffington Post on topics including the history of Spain and the history of internationalism. I am particularly interested in work with schools and history teachers, and have edited an Historical Association companion for teachers, Exploring and Teaching Twentieth-Century History.

Selected Publications

• Franco’s Internationalists: Social Experts and Spain’s Search for Legitimacy (OUP, 2019) – available open access
• (edited with Jessica Reinish), Internationalists in European History: Rethinking the Twentieth Century (Bloomsbury, 2021)
• ‘Manos Unidas: Humanitarianism, Catholic Third Worldism, and Metropolitan Cultures of Decolonization in Spain, c. 1960-1980’, International History Review (2024)
• ‘Christian Humanitarianism, Refugee Stories, and the Making of the Cold War West’, Historical Journal (2023)
• ‘Starving Spain: International humanitarian responses to Franco's famine’, in M.A. Arco Blano and P. Anderson (eds.), Franco's Famine: Malnutrition, Disease and Starvation in Post-Civil War Spain (Bloomsbury, 2021)