Sam Edwards

Dr Sam Edwards is a Reader (Assoc. Prof) in Modern Political History at Loughborough University, UK. Sam has published widely on memory, commemoration and transatlantic relations, including a book – Allies in Memory (Cambridge University Press, 2015) – which was shortlisted for the Royal Historical Society's Gladstone Prize.

In recent years, Sam has researched and written about the memory of the American revolution, including pieces about Thomas Paine in 2018, George Washington in 2020 and the 1976 bicentennial in 2019. He also has two publications forthcoming linked to the 250th anniversary. One is an article with the Journal of Transatlantic Studies which provides the first full history of how July 4th has been marked in Britain, from 1776 to the semiquincentennial. It will be published in late 2026. The second is a chapter exploring the role played by George Washington's Mount Vernon home in Anglo-American memory diplomacy (in a collection on Royalty and US-UK relations edited by Robert Hendershot and Steve Marsh and out with McGill-Queen's University Press later this year). In May 2026, Sam hosted a conference to mark the 250th anniversary which was held at Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of George Washington.

Sam is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fulbright Scholar. He is a Governor of The American Library in Norwich (a World War II memorial to the Second Air Division, 8th Air Force, USAAF) and a Trustee of Sulgrave Manor.