Professor Neville Wylie

Senior Deputy Principal

History Stirling

Professor Neville Wylie

Contact details

About me

A native of Edinburgh, Professor Wylie graduated with a first class honours degree in Medieval and Modern History from Kings College London, where he won the Derby-Brize prize. He then moved to the University of Cambridge where he took an MPhil in International Relations (1990) and a PhD in International History (1994), followed by a Junior Research Fellowship at New Hall, and a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Centre of International Studies. He held positions at the Glasgow University, where he temporarily directed the Scottish Centre for War Studies, University College Dublin and held a visiting adjunct position at the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies at Geneva.

The majority of Wylie's career was spent at the University of Nottingham. Between 2010 and 2014, he was seconded to the University's campus in Malaysia as head of the School of Politics, History and International Relations, and founding Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. During his last four years at Nottingham, he was Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement with responsibility for overseeing Nottingham’s activities in the Americas region.

Professor Wylie’s research interests lie in exploring the way in which soft 'norms' - non-enforceable ideas, expectations and assumptions - have shaped state behaviour in times of international conflict. His initial training as a (budding) historian of early medieval Europe - under the guidance of the late Dame Jinty Nelson (KCL) - underscored the importance of embracing a holistic approach to addressing historical phenomena : balancing rigorous historical analysis with a willingness to draw on a broad and eclectic range of disciplinary and methodological perspectives. This has led him to adopt an approach to the history of modern and contemporary warfare and human conflict that is informed by the theoretical and methodological insights of International Relations and International (Humanitarian) Law. His early work looked at the history of neutrality and non-belligerency during the 2nd world war. His first book examined how British policy towards neutral Switzerland was affected by policy-makers' long-standing cultural and political assumptions about Switzerland and their entrenched attitudes regarding what they saw as Britain's status as a law-abiding state, and its rich tradition of respecting the rights of neutral and small states. More recently his attention has turned to the history of humanitarianism, humanitarians and humanitarian action. "Barbed Wire Diplomacy" explored the interplay between the British and German governments from 1939 and 1945 over the question of prisoners of war and examined how their policy-choices were shaped by the international legal norms set out in the 1929 Prisoners of War Convention. Professor Wylie has written widely on the history of prisoners of war, the evolution of international humanitarian law and the Red Cross movement. His latest book, "Resilient Humanitarianism. The League of Red Cross Societies, 1919-1991", appeared with Cambridge University Press in 2026.

Outputs (52)

Book Chapter

Introduction: Humanitarianism and the Greater War

Piller E & Wylie N (2023) Introduction: Humanitarianism and the Greater War. In: Piller E & Wylie N (eds.) Humanitarianism and the Greater War, 1914-24. Humanitarianism: Key Debates and New Approaches. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 1-28. https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526191304/

Edited Book

The Red Cross Movement: Myths, practices and turning points

Wylie N, Oppenheimer M & Crossland J (eds.) (2020) The Red Cross Movement: Myths, practices and turning points. Humanitarianism: Key Debates and New Approaches. Manchester: Manchester University Press. https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526133519/the-red-cross-movement/

Book Chapter

The British Red Cross Society and the ‘parcels crisis’ of 1940-1

Wylie N (2020) The British Red Cross Society and the ‘parcels crisis’ of 1940-1. In: Wylie N, Oppenheimer M & Crossland J (eds.) The Red Cross Movement: Myths, practices and turning points. Humanitarianism: Key Debates and New Approaches. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 245-63. https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526133519/the-red-cross-movement/

Book Chapter

The Red Cross Movement: Continuities, changes and challenges

Wylie N, Oppenheimer M & Crossland J (2020) The Red Cross Movement: Continuities, changes and challenges. In: Wylie N, Oppenheimer M & Crossland J (eds.) The Red Cross Movement: Myths, practices and turning points. Humanitarianism: Key Debates and New Approaches. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 1-26. https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526133519/the-red-cross-movement/

Book Review

Small powers in the age of total War, 1900–1940

Wylie N (2015) Small powers in the age of total War, 1900–1940. Review of: Small powers in the age of total War, 1900–1940 (History of warfare, 65.), edited by Herman Amersfoort and Wim Klinkert, Leiden/Boston, Brill, 2011. First World War Studies, 6 (3), pp. 300-302. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475020.2016.1201735

Book Chapter

Switzerland: a neutral of distinction?

Wylie N (2011) Switzerland: a neutral of distinction?. In: Wylie N (ed.) European Neutrals and Non-Belligerents during the Second World War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 331-354. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511523793.016

Book Review

Review: The foreign office and Finland 1938-1940: Diplomatic sideshow

Wylie N (2007) Review: The foreign office and Finland 1938-1940: Diplomatic sideshow. Review of: Craig Gerrard, The Foreign Office and Finland 1938–1940: Diplomatic Sideshow. London: Frank Cass, Cass Contemporary Security Studies Series, 2005.. Journal of Strategic Studies, 30 (6), pp. 1053-1055. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390701685809

Book Chapter

SOE and the neutrals

Wylie N (2006) SOE and the neutrals. In: Seaman M (ed.) Special Operations Executive: A new instrument of war. Studies in intelligence series. Oxford: Routledge, pp. 157-78.

Book Review

Book Review: The imperiled Red Cross and the Palestine-Eretz-Yisrael conflict, 1945-1952: The influence of institutional concerns on a humanitarian operation

Wylie N (2003) Book Review: The imperiled Red Cross and the Palestine-Eretz-Yisrael conflict, 1945-1952: The influence of institutional concerns on a humanitarian operation. Review of: The Imperiled Red Cross and the Palestine–Eretz–Yisrael Conflict, 1945–1952: The Influence of Institutional Concerns on a Humanitarian Operation. By Dominique-D. Junod. Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. London and New York: Kegan Paul International. 1996. War in History, 10 (3), pp. 371-373. https://doi.org/10.1177/096834450301000320

Book Review

Review: Resistance in Western Europe; Radio London and Resistance in Occupied London. British Political Warfare, 1939-1943

Wylie N (2003) Review: Resistance in Western Europe; Radio London and Resistance in Occupied London. British Political Warfare, 1939-1943. Review of: 'Resistance in Western Europe'. Edited by Bob Moore. Berg Publishers. 2000. and 'Radio London and Resistance in Occupied London. British Political Warfare, 1939– 1943'. By Michael Stenton. Oxford University Press. 2000.. History, 88 (289), pp. 176-178. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-229X.00253_4

Book Review

The Sound of Silence: The History of the International Committee of the Red Cross as Past and Present

Wylie N (2002) The Sound of Silence: The History of the International Committee of the Red Cross as Past and Present. Review of: Jean-Francois Pitteloud, 'Proces-verbaux des Seances du Comite international de la Croix-Rouge, 17 Fevrier 1863-28 aout 1914', Geneva, 1999; Caroline Moorhead, 'Dunant's Dream. War, Switzerland and the History of the Red Cross', London, 1998; Jean-Claude Favez, 'The Red Cross and the Holocaust', Cambridge, 1999;. Diplomacy & Statecraft, 13 (4), pp. 186-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/714000345

Book Chapter

The Swiss Franc and British policy towards Switzerland 1939-1945

Wylie N (1999) The Swiss Franc and British policy towards Switzerland 1939-1945. In: Guex S (ed.) La Suisse et les Grandes Puissances 1914-1945: relations économiques avec les Etats-Unis, la Grande-Bretagne, l'Allemagne et la France. 1 ed. Publications d'histoire économique et sociale internationale, 14. Paris: Droz, pp. 461-80. https://www.droz.org/eur/fr/1813-9782600003643.html

Book Review

Review article: Law and War

Wylie N (1996) Review article: Law and War. Review of: 'The Laws of War: Constraints on Warfare in the Western World', ed. Michael Howard, George J. Andreopoulos, Mark R. Shulman, London, Yale University Press, 1994; 'Cooperation under Fire: Anglo-German Restraint during World War II' by Jeffrey W. Legro, Ithaca and London, Cornell University Press, 1995; 'War and Law since 1945' by Geoffrey Best, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1994;. War in History, 3 (4), pp. 451-460. https://doi.org/10.1177/096834459600300406

Research programmes

Research themes