Duncan Shaw

Professor Duncan Richard Shaw Dr. Duncan Richard Shaw (born 1961 in Sheffield, England) is an English historian and writer based in Madrid, Spain. He is the Senior Professor of History and Political Science at Schiller International University Madrid Campus, Spain. He is considered to be an expert in the history and political manipulation of sport - particularly in Francoist Spain, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany - and has published extensively in this area. He is additionally a specialist on he manipulation of public opinion in different political systems, and also on the social history of popular music and literature. Shaw was educated at Tupton Hall School in north Derbyshire, England. He was an accomplished amateur cricketer and footballer, and now plays tennis regularly at the Federación de Tenis de Madrid. He obtained a Joint Honours Degree in History and Politics from the University of Leicester in 1983, then embarked upon a doctorate in Spanish history at the University of London with Paul Preston as his supervisor. The title of Shaw's doctoral thesis was The Political Instrumentalization of Professional Football in Francoist Spain, 1939 to 1975; he was awarded his doctorate in 1988. Out of Shaw's thesis came his successful book, in Spanish in 1987, Fútbol y Franquismo, plus well-received articles in History Today and World Soccer magazines. Shaw was correspondent in Spain for World Soccer magazine from 1984 to 1988, whilst living in Madrid and undertaking research for his doctoral thesis. He then spent a year walking across South America, which is one of the themes of his 2013 novel The Year of Finding and Losing. Shaw then taught history at several schools and universities in South America; he was Head of History at Belgrano Day School from 1989 to 1991 and at Northlands School from 1992 to 1995, both in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Whilst teaching in Argentina, Shaw was a regular contributor to the Buenos Aires Herald . He returned to Spain in 1995, to take up an appointment as Senior Professor of History at Suffolk University Madrid Campus; he has also taught at the George Washington University and the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares. Shaw was Head of Studies at Schiller International University Madrid Campus from 2007 to 2013, and is now the Senior Professor of History and Political Science there. He teaches a wide range of history, international relations and politics courses at Schiller’s Madrid Campus, and has designed and taught courses by video conferencing and in online format to students at Schiller's additional Campuses. In 2015 Shaw published, together with former Schiller student Morgan Littleton, The World As We See It, a lengthy dialogue about the contemporary global situation.Shaw brought out in 2016, along with old friend and former television colleague Carlos Castellanos, The Mountainside Dialogues, an in-depth debate about the present-day political and economic situation. Some of Shaw’s books can be found at https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Duncan-R-Shaw-ebook/dp/B01AYDJTTK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=7K45EQA0LPVW&keywords=duncan+r+shaw&qid=1654261316&sprefix=duncan+r+sha%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-2. Shaw is married and has one daughter. He divides his time between Madrid and Gandía, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast; he can be contacted at duncanrshaw@hotmail.com

TIME FOR A REPUBLIC NOW?

TIME FOR A REPUBLIC NOW? By Duncan Richard Shaw Madrid, 9 September 2022 Amidst all the (globalized) grief at the passing away of Elizabeth II, I would just like to ask you one simple question: wouldn’t a republic be better? Cheaper, more logical, cheaper, more egalitarian, more ‘advanced’, modern, democratic? Less elitist, unpredictable (nobody knows …

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VICTOR KLEMPERER – THE GREATEST DIARIST EVER?

VICTOR KLEMPERER – THE GREATEST DIARIST EVER? By Duncan R. Shaw Madrid, 27 August 2022 Who has been the greatest diarist of all time? Anne Frank, Samuel Pepys, Alan Bennett, James Boswell, Virginia Woolf, Edward Ellis – even Robert Shields? But how about considering Victor Klemperer as the best ever? Never heard of him? Well, …

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DOES PRIVATIZATION REALLY BENEFIT THE PEOPLE OR JUST THE WEALTHY FEW? 

DOES PRIVATIZATION REALLY BENEFIT THE PEOPLE OR JUST THE WEALTHY FEW? By Duncan R. Shaw, PhD Madrid, 20 August 2022 As Britain sweats through the hottest and driest summer on record, an acrimonious debate has started about the consequences of the privatization process unleashed on the country 40 years ago by Margaret Thatcher. The pretext …

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PAUL WELLER: OUR GREAT POET OF ALIENATION

PAUL WELLER: OUR GREAT POET OF ALIENATION By Duncan R. Shaw, PhD Madrid, 12 August 2022 How gratifying it is to open the eyes of young people to a twentieth century musician, artist, writer, philosopher, decent politician (rara avis, to be sure)  – somebody they’d never really heard about properly, despite the internet. Having a …

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THE ALEX JONES VERDICT: IS THIS THE WAY TO STOP ‘FAKE NEWS’?

THE ALEX JONES VERDICT: IS THIS THE WAY TO STOP ‘FAKE NEWS’? By Professor Duncan Richard Shaw Madrid, 6 August 2022 At the beginning of each of my courses at Schiller, I spend time making sure my new students know the difference between fact and opinion. I have been doing this since around 2000, when …

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JOE STRUMMER: OUR GREAT POET OF PROTEST

JOE STRUMMER: OUR GREAT POET OF PROTEST By Duncan R. Shaw, PhD Madrid, 1 August 2022 This long hot ‘Summer of Discontent ‘ has seen presidential palaces and parliaments stormed by people inflamed by global warning and corruption – and furious at rising prices. In countries as diverse as Sri Lanka, Argentina, Libya and Iraq, …

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TO THE ASTONISHMENT OF THE MARTIANS…PART 2

TO THE ASTONISHMENT OF THE MARTIANS… By Professor Duncan Richard Shaw Madrid, 17 July 2022 The report of the Martian reconnaissance mission to Planet Earth continues, as seen in the legendary 1970s television adverts in Britain was for Smash powdered mashed potato. “So, please tell us what else is happening on Planet Earth, dear reconnaissance …

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