Margaret Shennan

April 6, 1933

Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Margaret Shennan is a historian, retired teacher, writer, and expert on Malaya. For ten years she was principal lecturer of history at Saint Martin's Institute of Higher Education and also taught European studies at Lancaster University. She is the author of history books ranging in topic from European expansionism to British colonialism in Malaya. The first book she published was The European Dynamic: Aspects of European Expansion, 1450-1715 (1976). Her The Rise of Brandenburg Prussia is a treatise on the Great Elector and his son, King Frederick I, and Frederick William I. Shennan's next book was the biography of Berthe Morisot, the model who sat for Edouard Manet's famous 1870 portrait, "Le Repose." The book is aptly titled Berthe Morisot: The First Lady of Impressionism, and in it, Shennan depicts the life of Morisot as a painter. The reader is introduced not only to Morisot's career and its struggles, but also to the painter's politics, commitments, and loveless marriage. Out in the Midday Sun: The British in Malaya, 1880-1960 was published in 2000. Shennan's presentation of the British experience in Malaya depicts a world that was, until the advent of World War I, primarily one of happiness and contentment. Her book covers the Japanese bombing of Singapore and the chaos that followed. Her other books include the childhood autobiography Missee (1986), The Devil's Diagonal (1990), and Teaching about Europe (1991). The most recent book is Our Man in Malaya. It is the troubled history of the last few years of Malaya as a colony, both of the British and Japanese, and the first few years of independence are reflected in the biography of John Davis.

Back to Profile

Photos
Works

book

The European Dynamic: Aspects of European Expansion, 1450-1715

1976

Missee

1986

The Devil's Diagonal

1990

Teaching about Europe

(Teaching about Europe provides an overview of teaching ab...)

1991

The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia

(In this pamphlet Margaret Shennan surveys the rise of Pru...)

1995

Berthe Morisot: The First Lady of Impressionism

(This biography explores many of the questions that have s...)

1996

Out in the Midday Sun: The British in Malaya, 1880-1960

(The story of British Malaya and Singapore, from the days ...)

2000

Our Man in Malaya

(When the Japanese invaded Malaya during World War II it s...)

2007

Margaret Shennan

Edit Profile

educator historian author

Background

Margaret Shennan was born on April 6, 1933, in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Education

Margaret Shennan studied at a school in the Cameron Highlands.

Career

Margaret Shennan is a historian, retired teacher, writer, and expert on Malaya. For ten years she was principal lecturer of history at Saint Martin's Institute of Higher Education and also taught European studies at Lancaster University.

She is the author of history books ranging in topic from European expansionism to British colonialism in Malaya. The first book she published was The European Dynamic: Aspects of European Expansion, 1450-1715 (1976).

Her The Rise of Brandenburg Prussia is a treatise on the Great Elector and his son, King Frederick I, and Frederick William I. Shennan's next book was the biography of Berthe Morisot, the model who sat for Edouard Manet's famous 1870 portrait, "Le Repose." The book is aptly titled Berthe Morisot: The First Lady of Impressionism, and in it, Shennan depicts the life of Morisot as a painter. The reader is introduced not only to Morisot's career and its struggles, but also to the painter's politics, commitments, and loveless marriage.

Out in the Midday Sun: The British in Malaya, 1880-1960 was published in 2000. Shennan's presentation of the British experience in Malaya depicts a world that was, until the advent of World War I, primarily one of happiness and contentment. Her book covers the Japanese bombing of Singapore and the chaos that followed.

Her other books include the childhood autobiography Missee (1986), The Devil's Diagonal (1990), and Teaching about Europe (1991). The most recent book is Our Man in Malaya. It is the troubled history of the last few years of Malaya as a colony, both of the British and Japanese, and the first few years of independence are reflected in the biography of John Davis.

Achievements

Margaret Shennan is a prize-winning historian, expert on Malaya and writer. Her book Teaching about Europe won a national award from the Standing Conference of Studies in Education. For her work as a consultant for European programmes at Lancaster University, she was nominated for the 1993 Women of Europe Award.