Helen Roche

Helen Roche
Born	Helen Roche
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Cambridge
Academic work
Institutions	Durham University

Helen Roche is a British historian and an associate professor in modern European cultural history at Durham University.[1]

Academic career

Roche attended Leweston School in Dorset before studying classics at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, from 2004 to 2012, where she completed her doctorate under the supervision of Paul Cartledge, Robin Osborne, and Brendan Simms.[2] She held research fellowships at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge and the Institute of Advanced Studies at University College London before taking up a permanent post at Durham University. Her research is in German history, classical reception, the comparative study of fascism, the history of education, and related areas.[3] At Durham University, she is an associate fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study.[4]

In 2021, Roche published The Third Reich’s Elite Schools: A History of the Napolas. This study of the German National Political Institutes of Education has been praised as an important contribution to the history of Nazi Germany.[5] Several British newspapers reported on Roche’s uncovering the links between the Napolas and elite British private schools in the 1930s.[6][7] In March 2022, she was interviewed on this subject on the Free Thinking programme on BBC Radio 3.[8]

Books

• The Third Reich’s Elite Schools: A History of the Napolas, Oxford University Press, 2021
• Sparta’s German Children: The Ideal of Ancient Sparta in the Royal Prussian Cadet-Corps, 1818-1920, and in National-Socialist Elite Schools (the Napolas), 1933-1945, Classical Press of Wales, 2013[9][10]
• Brill's Companion to the Classics, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, edited, with Kyriakos Demetriou, Brill, 2018[11]

References

1. "Durham University Staff Profile". www.durham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
2. "Leweston School Alumnae Profiles". www.leweston.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
3. "Women Also Know History Profile". www. womenalsoknowhistory.com. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
4. "Institute of Advanced Studies Associate Fellows Pages". www.durham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
5. Reviews of The Third Reich’s Elite Schools: Lisa Pina, Cultural and Social History, [1], Tim Mueller, H-Net, [2], Lisbeth Matzer, History of Education [3]
6. Brown, Mark (2021-11-17). "Nazis based their elite schools on top British private schools". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
7. Williams, Tom (2021-11-17). "Top British schools sent pupils on exchanges to Nazi Germany, historian reveals". Metro. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
8. "Free Thinking". www.bbc.co.uk (Podcast). BBC Radio 3. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
9. Konijnendijk, Roel (January 2015). "Review of Sparta's German Children". The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 135: 302–303. doi:10.1017/S0075426915001196. S2CID 165056589.
10. Strauss, Philipp (April 2015). "Review of Sparta's German Children". The Classical Review. 65 (1): 285–287. doi:10.1017/S0009840X14002364. S2CID 231889768.
11. Reviews of Brill's Companion to the Classics, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: Martijn Eickhoff, Fascism, [4], Genevieve Gessert, History of Humanities, [5], Peter Staudenmaier, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, [6]