Nostalgia Interviews With Chris Deacy

Mark Connelly is Professor of Modern British Military History at the University of Kent and in this very candid and wide-ranging interview Mark begins by talking about his family background. He was born to a German mother while his father, who is a London cab driver, is a mixture of Irish and Russian. Mark also talks about how his love of history was precipitated by reading Ladybird History Books as a child. Mark was the first in his family to go to university and we discuss our shared arts backgrounds. Mark reveals his earliest memory which is Christmas-related and we learn that he enjoyed going to the Imperial War Museum and the Tower of London when young. Through his parents Mark developed a love of Frank Sinatra, especially his 1950s concept albums, and Mark can just about remember Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ from its original 1973 incarnation. He especially loves Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ and the memories it evokes as well as Spandau Ballet’s ‘True’. We also learn about the time that Mark