Christopher Lee (historian)
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Christopher Lee RD (13 October 1941 – 14 February 2021)[1] was a British writer, historian and broadcaster, best known for writing the radio documentary series This Sceptred Isle for the BBC read by Anna Massey and directed by Pete Atkin.[2]
Lee's career began after expulsion from school and going to sea in an old tramp steamer.
In his twenties he restarted education, reading history at Goldsmith’s College, London University. He later joined the BBC as a defence and foreign affairs correspondent and was posted to Moscow and the Middle East. Leaving his career in journalism for academia, Lee was the first Quatercentenary Fellow in Contemporary History and Gomes Lecturer in Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He went on to research the history of ideas at Birkbeck College in the University of London.[citation needed]
Although he possessed no Merchant Navy qualifications, Christopher Lee was recruited into the Royal Navy's Joint Intelligence Reserve Branch and in the 1970s completed a study of the Order of Battle of the Soviet Northern Fleet and its command structure. Promoted to commander, he later became commanding officer of the stone frigate HMS Wildfire based at Chatham in Kent (1988-1990) and in 1991 was awarded a bar to his Reserve Decoration.
This Sceptred Isle
Lee is the originator and writer of the BBC Radio 4 trilogy This Sceptred Isle, first broadcast in June 1995. It recounts, in 216 episodes each 15 minutes long (46 hours total), the history of Britain from the Romans to the death of Queen Victoria, the 20th century and the British Empire. The series was read by Anna Massey and included extracts from the book A History of the English-Speaking Peoples written by Sir Winston Churchill, interwoven into Lee's own account of the history. The extracts were read by Paul Eddington, who died during the production, and his role was completed by Peter Jeffrey.
In 1999 the BBC and Christopher Lee extended the programme to cover the 20th century: from 1901, where the original series had ended, to the end of the millennium. Anna Massey was retained as the narrator but quotations were read by Robert Powell. In 2001 another shorter series entitled This Sceptred Isle: Dynasties was produced, telling the stories of the powerful and influential families of Britain and Ireland, including the Godwines, the Despensers and the Churchills. Then, over the course of several months in 2005 and 2006 came This Sceptred Isle: Empire, a 90-part history of the British Empire narrated by Juliet Stevenson.
There are three accompanying books of This Sceptred Isle.
