Dr David Lees

About me

I teach and research aspects of modern and contemporary French history, culture and politics. I have previously taught at Bath and Newcastle. I have published on a wide range of themes, from propaganda and election campaigns in France through to wellbeing, personal tutoring and pedagogies of the Holocaust. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an Honorary Fellow of the Warwick Institute of Engagement and an ex-officio Fellow of the Warwick International Higher Education Academy.

Research interests

My research principally concerns aspects of modern and contemporary French politics, history and culture. This includes:

1. Political campaigns, communications and propaganda in modern and contemporary France, especially the extreme-right and centre-right
2. France in the Second World War
3. Pedagogy of the Holocaust

Teaching

My teaching interests reflect many of my research interests and I am active in research-led teaching in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at Warwick. I have supervised projects through the Undergraduate Research Support Scheme and undergraduate, MA and PhD projects related to histories of Jewish populations in France under Occupation; Holocaust commemoration; Poujadisme and the extreme-right; and the use of social media by the Front National. I welcome proposals for supervision of undergraduate, MA or PhD projects in any of my research and teaching areas.

Teaching and supervision in 2026/27

I will be convening the final-year specialist module FR346 Occupation: Everyday Life in Vichy France in term 2, 2026/27 and teaching on first and second-year French language modules.

Public engagement

Since 2015, I have given over 500 media interviews to local, national and international publications and broadcasters. I focus predominantly on my areas of research interests, especially the Second World War in France and its legacies and political communications, campaigns and propaganda, though I have also given interviews on all aspects of the French centre and extreme-right and modern and contemporary French politics, history and culture. I have given broadcast and print interviews to BBC News Channel; Reuters TV; Sky News; France 24; Al Jazeera; CBC News (Canada); CTV News (Canada); Talk Radio UK; CNN; TRT World; The BBC History Magazine; LBC; BBC Coventry & Warwickshire; The Express; Newsweek; The Atlantic (USA); Share Radio and I24 News. I have also written extensively for The Conversation, a website offering expert analysis and opinion.

I am active in the promotion of the study of modern French history, politics and culture. Between 2021 and 2024, I was the Co-Editor of the journal Modern & Contemporary France (Taylor & Francis) and currently sit on the Executive Committee of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France as Treasurer (since 2025), having also served variously as Web Officer and PG Representative. I have also been active in Outreach and Widening Participation initiatives, working closely with The Brilliant Club as well as delivering sessions for primary and secondary school students at Warwick. I have been a peer reviewer for The Brilliant Club's journal, The Scholar, since 2016. I have also written articles on teaching for the academic jobs website, Jobs.ac.uk.

Professional memberships/affiliations

• Member, Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF)
• Fellow of the Warwick International Higher Education Academy (2018-2021; Ex-Officio Fellow 2024-26)
• Senior Fellow, Warwick Institute of Engagement (2026-Present / Honorary Fellow 2024-26)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
• Founder member of the Midlands HE Peer Mentoring Network

Publications

Edited collections

Lindsey Dodd and David Lees (Eds.), Vichy France and Everyday Life: Confronting the Challenges of Wartime, 1939-1945, (London: Bloomsbury, 2018)

Peer-reviewed chapters in books

David Lees, 'Defining everyday Frenchness under Vichy,' in Dodd and Lees (Eds.), Vichy France and Everyday Life, op cit.

Peer reviewed journal articles

David Lees, 'A controversial campaign: François Fillon and the decline of the centre-right in the 2017 French presidential elections,' in Modern & Contemporary France, Special Issue on 2017 presidential and legislative elections, Vol. 25, No. 4, November 2017, pp.391-402

Handbooks

Marion Demossier, Aurelien Mondon, Nina Parish and David Lees (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of French Politics and Culture (London: Routledge, 2020).

David Howarth, Georgios Varouxakis, Chris Reynolds and David Lees, Contemporary France, In preparation for Routledge, 2021.

I have also reviewed books related to my teaching and research interests for Modern and Contemporary France, French History, Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, Social History and Modern Language Review. I am a regular peer reviewer for Modern and Contemporary France and have also peer-reviewed for Routledge, European History Quarterly and Exchanges, Warwick's interdisciplinary journal.