Julie Summers
Julie Summers is an author, historian and curator. Her recent research on the impact of the war on families has been very favourably received and widely covered in the press.
Her publications on this theme include:
When The Children Came Home: Stories of Wartime Evacuees
Published March 2010
Stranger in The House: Women’s stories of men returning from the Second World War
Published September 2008
She has written widely on the remembrance of conflict, and has worked with the War Graves Commission on a history of their enterprise.
Remembering Fromelles: The story of the first new CWGC cemetery constructed in half a century
Published July 2010
British and CommonwealthWar Cemeteries: Tracing the short but fascinating history of the war cemetery
Published 2010
Remembered: A history of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Published 2007
Her research also encompasses extraordinary stories of exploration, hardship and survival against the odds:
The Colonel of Tamarkan: Philip Toosey and the Bridge on the River Kwai
Published 2005
The Shackleton Voyages: A Pictorial Anthology of the Polar Explorer and
Edwardian Hero
Published 2002
Fearless on Everest: The Quest for Sandy Irvine
First published 2000
Julie had an extensive career as an exhibition organiser, first at the Royal Academy of Arts, London 1986-89, with the Henry Moore Foundation 1989-1996, and at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 2000 to 2004, as Head of Exhibitions. Her most recent exhibition is on Fromelles at the Imperial War Museum and travelling. She lectures on remembrance and commemoration as well as on her book subjects, in particular the real story of the Bridge on the River Kwai and evacuee children.
Julie’s interest in SOFO was piqued by a report about ambitious plans to extend the museum for these important collections. It chimed with her interest in museum display and military history as well as with her work on commemoration and remembrance. Above all she feels that the approach of SOFO towards exhibition displays is positive and inclusive.
Julie’s other interests include the Cumbria based Mountain Heritage Trust, a charity which looks after all aspects of climbing and mountaineering heritage.