Courses taught

Conversation, Culture, Leadership

Overview

Scholar and then Lecturer in Modern History at Christ Church Oxford, Dean of St Antony’s College, Oxford which he helped to develop as the University’s centre for international studies, and author of books which have been translated into 24 languages. He has been called “one of Britain’s finest intellects” (Management Today), “an international thought leader” (Fast Company), and “one of the forty world figures whose ideas are likely to have a lasting relevance to the new millennium” (Independent on Sunday)

He has been a member of the BBC Brains Trust, on the Management Committee of the Society of Authors, and a Fellow of the World Economic Forum. He has advised organisations and corporations in many fields; and has been in particular demand in France, where he recently helped prepare numerous reforms for the President of the Republic. He has been named as “the most popular Englishman in France”(Le Point) and “the world’s foremost authority on Frenchness” (Time magazine). He is now engaged, in collaboration with a major multinational, in creating a new model of retailing. The Oxford Muse Foundation has been established to develop his interest in pioneering new forms of personal, professional and intercultural relationships.

Research interests

The Future of Work

Journal articles

Numerous interviews, newspaper articles and broadcasts

Books

An Intimate History of Humanity

A History of French Passions, in 5 volumes: Ambition and Love, Intellect and Pride, Taste and Corruption, Politics and Anger, Anxiety and Hypocrisy

Happiness

Conversation

The French

The Future of Work (Report for the EU)

Political System of Napoleon III

Emile Ollivier and the Liberal Empire

Guide to an Unknown City (ed.)

Guide to an Unknown University (ed.)

Conflicts in French Society (ed.)