Peter Stanley facts for kids

Peter Alan Stanley FAHA (born 28 October 1956) is an Australian historian. He is a research professor at the University of New South Wales. He works in the Australian Centre for the Study of Armed Conflict and Society.

From 2007 to 2013, he led the Centre for Historical Research at the National Museum of Australia. Before that, from 1980 to 2007, he worked at the Australian War Memorial. He was an historian and sometimes an exhibition curator there. He also led the Historical Research Section and was Principal Historian from 1987.

Since 2005, he has written eight books about Australia and the Great War. In 2011, he was a joint winner of the Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History.

Early Life and Education

Peter Stanley was born in Liverpool, England, on October 28, 1956. His parents were Albert Edward Stanley and Marjorie Patricia. In 1966, his family moved to Australia. They settled in Whyalla, South Australia. Peter went to the local high school there.

In 1975, he moved to Canberra to study at the Australian National University (ANU). He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977. Later, he got a Graduate Diploma of Education. He first started working as a high school teacher.

However, he decided teaching was not for him. In 1980, he began working at the Australian War Memorial. He also went back to ANU to continue his studies. He completed a Bachelor of Letters in 1984. In 1993, he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree.

Peter Stanley married Claire Cruickshank in 2009. He has two daughters from an earlier marriage.

His Work as a Historian

Peter Stanley has written over thirty books. Most of his books are about Australian military history. He often focuses on the social side of history. This means he looks at how wars affected people's lives.

He has also written about the military history of British India. One of his books is about British surgery before pain medicine was common. He also wrote about how bushfires affected an Australian town. His writing explores how people experience extreme situations.

Public History and Debates

Peter Stanley has been involved in many public history projects. He led a tour of the Borneo battlefield in 1997. He was also a commentator for ABC television's Anzac Day march broadcasts. He advised on the TV series Australians at War.

He also appeared in documentaries like Monash: the Forgotten Anzac. In 2011, he was a consultant for the TV series In Their Footsteps. He also helped with an episode of Who do you think you are? in 2013.

Stanley has taken part in important history debates. He disagreed with the idea of a "Battle for Australia" in 1942. Some people thought events in Darwin during the Second World War meant Japan planned to invade Australia. Stanley argues that this idea was not accurate. He wrote about this in his 2008 book Invading Australia.

He also leads a group called 'Honest History'. This group has criticized how Australia remembers the Great War. They feel there has been too much focus on "Anzackery," which is an overly simplified or glorified view of the Anzacs.

Books and Other Writings

While working at the National Museum of Australia, Stanley wrote a book about the 2009 bushfires. This book, Black Saturday at Steels Creek, describes how the fires affected a small community.

Stanley also writes as a freelance author. His book Digger Smith and Australia's Great War tells the story of the Great War. It uses the lives and words of people named Smith or Schmidt. He also wrote Lost Boys of Anzac and Die in battle: Do not Despair: Indians on Gallipoli, 1915.

He has also written historical fiction. His children's book, Simpson's Donkey, was published in 2011. He also wrote a novel called The Cunning Man.

In 2001, Stanley criticized the ABC TV mini-series Changi. He said the show did not accurately show the Second World War POW camp in Singapore.