Our History
French and Phillips.
We first met more than a decade ago when working together on a multinational, 3-year, European Commission research and policy project which focused on social inclusion and learning technologies.
Having enjoyed a productive professional relationship, a close friendship emerged and we vowed to work together again, but only when we could return to our joint passion of history.
Circumstances delayed the venture longer than anticipated, but in the interim we both succeeded in our other ambitions of researching, writing and finding credible publishers for books where we wrestled with complicated subjects in order to present them to a mainstream audience.
These books (like their current follow-up projects) demonstrate a belief that history should not be locked away behind doors, passwords or, more pervasively, impenetrably esoteric language.
However, for us, making history accessible does not mean compromising standards of academic or ethical rigour.
Recent trends (podcast histories, TV documentaries and sales of quality non-fiction books) prove that the wider public has an appetite for historical storytelling that is not reliant on pandering to a lowest-common denominator.
Perhaps the most exciting, and ultimately satisfying challenge for us is to communicate that history is indeed often complicated, dirty, enigmatic, ambiguous and bewildering, and those are all of the things which make it inspiring and limitless.
Together we bring complementary skills and coincidental passions to our work. Our individual pro bono work — for charities, with local history and heritage groups and museums — has now all been brought under the umbrella of French Phillips as we continue seeking ways to help increase the reach of the unsung local and subject specialist ‘history heroes’.
We are also really pleased to be able to work alongside some amazing professional Associates from across the heritage sector.
French Phillips Historical Consultancy 