Skip to content
Lecture

William Tyler
Kipling, India, England, and the Western Front

Wednesday 9.07.2025

How to watch

This lecture starts on 9 July at 5:00pm (UK).

Summary

To dismiss Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) as the unapologetic evangelist for empire would be to miss so much about him—his great novels such as Kim, his wonderful jungle stories, his exquisite poetry such as “If,” his doubts, by the 1890s, over the British Empire itself, and his anguish over his son’s death in the First World War (for which he blamed himself). A Nobel Prize Winner for Literature, a longtime US resident, and a defender of Canada’s independence—there is so much to this extraordinary writer and his life that we cover in this expansive lecture.

William Tyler

An image of William Tyler

William Tyler has spent his entire professional life in adult education, beginning at Kingsgate College in 1969. He has lectured widely for many public bodies, including the University of Cambridge and the WEA, in addition to speaking to many clubs and societies. In 2009, William was awarded the MBE for services to adult education, and he has previously been a scholar in residence at the London Jewish Cultural Centre. Link to William’ s blog with recommended book lists for his Lockdown lectures.