Saki and Michael, known among friends and colleagues as ‘The Dockrills’, brought international reputation to the Department through their commitment to the study of diplomatic and international history. In addition of being incredibly accomplished scholars, Saki and Michael were generous mentors who contributed to nurture different generations of scholars. The sense of friendship and collegiality they inspired is such that those who had the fortune to work with them amiably like to consider themselves as ‘Dockrilites’.
This memorial lecture is an opportunity for the Department to reward the values they embodied and to inspire the next generations of scholars through presenting the latest developments in the field of history.
Professor Saki Dockrill
This lecture is given annually in memory of Professor Saki Ruth Dockrill, who first came to the Department of War Studies in 1983 as a research student supervised by successive Heads of Department, Wolf Mendl and Lawrence Freedman. She went to Yale University as a John M. Olin Fellow in 1988-89 before returning to the Department as a MacArthur Fellow and then in 1992 as a lecturer in war studies; promotion to senior lecturer followed in 1997 and then appointment to a personal chair as Professor of Contemporary History and International Security in 2003. Professor Dockrill was a leading international historian, with four substantial, well researched books to her credit and five edited or co-edited. One of her best books was a study of the defence policy of Harold Wilson's two Labour Governments, 1964-70, and she made a notable contribution to the revival of Wilson's reputation as Prime Minister that had begun in the early 1990s.
Professor Mike Dockrill
Professor Mike Dockrill joined the Department in 1971 and remained until his retirement in 2001. He was one of only a handful of staff who sustained the Department for the better part of two decades. In the early 1980s, he met Saki Kimura, a postgraduate student in the War Studies Department, who had her own keen interest in post war European history. Saki went on to make her name as a leading international historian. Both were at the heart of departmental life and did much to promote the study of international history and foreign policy in the department. They inspired a generation of students with their deep knowledge of 20th-century international history and with genial good humour.