Dr Peter Londey
Areas of expertise
- Classical Greek And Roman History 210306
- Defence Studies 160604
- International Relations 160607
- Museum Studies 210204
- Australian History (Excl. Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander History) 210303
- Biography 210304
Research interests
• Australian and international peacekeeping
• Regional history and historical memory in Central Greece (Delphoi and Phokis)
• Warfare and society in ancient Greece, 6th to 4th centuries BC
• Australian artist George Gittoes
• Charles Bean and military commemoration in Australia
• Gallipoli and the Dardanelles in antiquity
Biography
Dr Peter Londey holds degrees in ancient history from the University of New England and Monash University. His PhD was on the Delphic Amphiktyony in the fourth century BC.
After holding positions in Classics at the University of Queensland and the ANU, from 1991 to 2007 he worked as a historian at the Australian War Memorial. His activities there included editing publications, managing conferences, working on a variety of exhibitions, and extended periods as acting head of the Military History Section.
While at the Memorial he took up research on international peacekeeping, and curated the
Memorial's first peacekeeping exhibition, in 1993, and a major travelling exhibition in 2001. He is the author of Other people's wars: a history of Australian peacekeeping (Allen & Unwin, 2004). Until the project's completion in 2019, he was a senior member of the team writing Australia's Official History of Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War, and himself wrote more than half of vol. I, The long search for peace: observer missions and beyond, 1947–2006 (CUP, 2020). He is also currently undertaking research on the Australian artist George Gittoes.
At the start of 2008 he re-joined the Classics Program at ANU and returned to Greek history; his research now ranges across a range of areas in both ancient and modern history (as listed below). He retired from teaching in 2019, and is now attached to the School of History in CASS.
Researcher's projects
• Deputy Editor of Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold
War Operations
• regional history of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles
• George Gittoes as an artist of war and peacekeeping
• Euripides, Thucydides, and the destruction of Melos
Current student projects
I am currently supervising the following PhD students:
John Bale, "Moral injury in Australia's peacekeeping operations"
Lachlan McColl, "Chios: island and polis in the pre-Roman world"
Past student projects
Previous PhDs supervised:
Michael Carrel, "Australia's prosecution of Japanese war criminals: stimuli and constraints" (co-supervisor; University of Melbourne, 2005)
Antony Pollock, "The emergence of the Roman politically interventionist legion in 88 BC: an integrated theory" (ANU, 2014)
Alexandra Walton, "The print collections of the Australian War Memorial and Imperial War Museum: examining the relationship between collection and institution" (ANU, 2018)
John Nash, "Maritime strategy in the Classical Greek period 550-322 B.C." (ANU, 2019)
Adrienne White, "Post-traumatic stress disorder in ancient Greek soldiers" (ANU, 2021)
Publications
- Londey, P, Crawley, R & Horner, D 2020, The Long Search for Peace: Observer Missions and Beyond, 1947–2006, The Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations, Volume I, , Cambridge University Press, Melbourne.
- Londey, P 2017, 'Australia and Peacekeeping', in Brendan Howe and Boris Kondoch (ed.), Peacekeeping and the Asia-Pacific, Koninklijke Brill, The Netherlands, pp. 76-94.
- Londey, P 2016, 'Perikles vs Thrace, 447 BC', Eleventh International Congress of Thracology, ed. Mustafa H Sayar, Conference Organising Committee, Turkey, pp. 163-168pp.
- Phang, S, Spence, I, Kelly, D et al., eds, 2016, Conflict in Ancient Greece and Rome: The Definitive Political, Social, and Military Encyclopedia, ABC-Clio Inc, United States.
- Londey, P 2015, 'Making up Delphic History-the 1st Sacred War revisited', Chiron, vol. 45, pp. 221-238.
- Londey, P 2014, 'Australia and Peacekeeping', Journal of International Peacekeeping, vol. 18, pp. 175-194.
- Londey, P 2013, 'Other battles of Thermopylae', in Christopher A Matthew and Matthew Trundle (ed.), Beyond the Gates of Fire: New Perspectives on the Battle of Thermopylae, Pen & Sword Books Limited, Barnsley, pp. 138-149.
- Londey, P 2013, 'Alexander the Great: 2000 Years of Treasures', reCollections: Journal of the National Museum of Australia, vol. 8, no. 1.
- Londey, P 2012, 'Book Review: Militarized Currents: toward a decolonized future in Asia and the Pacific', Journal of Pacific History, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 137-139.
- Londey, P 2010, 'Phokian Desperation: Private and Public in the Outbreak of the 3rd Sacred War', in Andrew J. Turner, James H. Kim On Chong-Gossard and Frederik Juliaan Vervaet (ed.), Private and Public Lies: The Discourse of Despotism and Deceit in the Graeco-Roman World, Koninklijke Brill, The Netherlands, pp. 29-38.
- Horner, D, Londey, P & Bou, J, eds, 2009, Australian Peacekeeping: Sixty Years in the Field, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne Australia.
- Horner, D, Londey, P & Bou, J 2009, 'Introduction (Australian Peacekeeping: Sixty Years in the Field)', in David Horner, Peter Londey and Jean Bou (ed.), Australian Peacekeeping: Sixty Years in the Field, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne Australia, pp. 1-7.
- Londey, P 2009, 'Inventing Peacekeeping', in David Horner, Peter Londey and Jean Bou (ed.), Australian Peacekeeping: Sixty Years in the Field, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne Australia, pp. 11-32.
- Londey, P 2009, 'Known Soldiers: The Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial', When the Soldiers Return, ed. Martin Crotty, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, pp. 261-269.
- Londey, P 2008, 'Australia and Peacekeeping', in P Dennis, J Grey, E Morris, R Prior (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (2nd ed), Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Victoria, pp. 412-417pp.
- Londey, P & Steel, N 2008, 'Der Erste Weltkrieg als nationaler Erinnerungsort Das Imperial War Museum in London und das Australian War Memorial in Canberra', in Barbara Korte, Sylvia Paletschek und Wolfgang Hochbruck (ed.), Der Erste Weltkrieg in der popularen Erinnerungskultur, Klartext Verlag, Essen, Germany, pp. 27-46.
- Londey, P 2007, 'A Possession for Ever: Charles Bean, the Ancient Greeks, and Military Commemoration in Australia', Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 344-359.
- Londey, P 2004, Other People's Wars: A History of Australian Peacekeeping, Allen & Unwin, Sydney Australia.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- The silent wilderness speaks: the long history of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles (Primary Investigator)