Gill Bennett

Gillian Bennett is a British historian and civil servant, previously the Chief Historian of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office between 1995 and 2005.

Gill Bennett

OBE
Academic background
Alma materSomerville College, Oxford
Academic work
DisciplineHistorian
Sub-disciplineDiplomatic history, Political history
InstitutionsForeign and Commonwealth Office

Career

After graduating from Somerville College, University of Oxford in 1969,[1] Bennett began her career in the Foreign Office in 1972 as a research assistant in what was then called the Historical Branch.[2] She held a number of roles within the wider FCO, and in 1995 was appointed to the newly-created position of Chief Historian.[3] In this role, she edited the documentary history of British foreign policy since 1945, Documents on British Policy Overseas, and give historical advice to ministers and officials.[4]

In 1998, FCO historians were commissioned by Foreign Secretary Robin Cook to investigate the authenticity of the Zinoviev Letter,[5] and Bennett authored the report of their findings, concluding that the letter was a forgery though not likely to have been directly the work of MI6 officers.[6][7] In researching the origins of the letter, Bennett had full access to British government sources, and also drew upon Russian archival records.[8] Bennett retired from the civil service in 2005, and was succeeded as chief historian by Patrick Salmon.[9]

Since 2005, Bennett has published three monographs, Churchill's Man of Mystery: Desmond Morton and the World of Intelligence (2006),[10] Six Moments of Crisis: Inside British Foreign Policy (2013),[11][12] and The Zinoviev Letter: The Conspiracy that Never Dies (2018).[13][14]

Major publications
  • Bennett, Gill (2006). Churchill's Man of Mystery: Desmond Morton and the World of Intelligence. Government Official History Series. doi:10.4324/9780203966785. ISBN 9780415394307.
  • Bennett, Gill (2013). Six Moments of Crisis: Inside British Foreign Policy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199583751.
  • Bennett, Gill (2018). The Zinoviev Letter: The Conspiracy that Never Dies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198767305.

References
  1. "Book reviews". Oxford Today. 25 (2): 55. March 2013.
  2. Smith, Richard (28 November 2018). "History at the heart of diplomacy". History of government. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  3. FCO Historians (2018). Women and the Foreign Office. p. 24. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  4. "Gill Bennett OBE". Royal United Services Institute. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  5. Barber, Tony (19 October 2018). "The Zinoviev Letter by Gill Bennett — a mystery of revolution and attribution". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 August 2019. (Subscription required.)
  6. Norton-Taylor, Richard (4 February 1999). "Zinoviev letter was dirty trick by MI6". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  7. Bennett, Gill (February 1999). "'A most extraordinary and mysterious business': The Zinoviev Letter of 1924". History Notes. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (14). Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  8. Bennett, Gill (2018). The Zinoviev Letter: The Conspiracy that Never Dies. Oxford University Press. p. 15. ISBN 9780198767305.
  9. FCO Historians (2018). History at the Heart of Diplomacy: Historians in the Foreign Office, 1918-2018. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  10. Foot, M. R. D. (11 November 2006). "The shadowy world of secrets". The Spectator. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  11. Hurd, Douglas (25 April 2013). "Reviewed: Six Moments of Crisis - Inside British Foreign Policy by Gill Bennett". New Statesman. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  12. Norton-Taylor, Richard (19 February 2013). "Past crises shed light on the present". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  13. Judd, Alan (18 August 2018). "Did the notorious Zinoviev letter ever exist?". The Spectator. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  14. Udy, Giles (25 August 2018). "Review: The Zinoviev Letter: The Conspiracy That Never Dies by Gill Bennett — was it an anti-Labour plot?". The Times. Retrieved 22 August 2019. (Subscription required.)
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