Mike Dash
Location: West London
I predominantly teach:
AS/A2 History , Oxbridge Preparation
I also teach:
Essay Writing, GCSE History, Motivation, Exam Preparation and Study Skills, SAT II US History, SAT II World History
Experience
Since discovering a love for teaching three years ago, I have offered specialist Oxbridge preparation and practice interviews at several leading public schools, and tutored at both A-level and undergraduate level, including offering extra help to current Oxbridge students. Essay planning & writing, and teaching both basic and advanced research techniques, are all specialities.
Biography
I fell passionately in love with history at school, read the subject for three years at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and went on to complete a PhD at King's College London. Aside from six years in the archives as a postgrad, I've spent eight more reading, researching and writing history in my current career as a full-time author of narrative non-fiction titles such as Batavia's Graveyard, Tulipomania and The First Family. I live and work in Fulham, though my other 'office' is the British Library.
For further details, see www.mikedash.com
I do not claim to teach a wide variety of subjects, but I can say I know history well. At various times I have studied or taught every period from Anglo-Saxon England to the 1970s, which means I have a broader and deeper knowledge of the subject than the majority of historians. I combine that with all the tools required to research and write good history – not to mention an undimmed enthusiasm for my subject.
Age and experience play their part as well; at 46, with an Cambridge degree, a doctorate, and some serious history under my belt, I'm in the perfect position to offer practice interviews conducted by someone with the sort of mindset and gravitas of an Oxbridge don. Realistic preparation is key to success in this demanding and competitive arena, and I have a solid track record of providing exactly that.
Personal Approach
History is by far the most fascinating of subjects - after all, it's the story of us - and I believe success in this field is a direct consequence of engagement. My unusual background – an historian with a PhD who has also spent years as a professional journalist and full-time author – means that I'm uniquely well-qualified to spot the compelling detail, the unusual fact, and use it to open up new vistas and new approaches to history. I believe in teaching every period with all the interesting and dramatic bits left in, but also have the experience and know-how to impart the techniques of analysis, argument and writing that are so critical to the successful historian.
Testimonials
'Dash writes with unabashedly cinematic flair, backed by meticulous research.' New York Times
'Up-close, personal, and full of you-are-there detail... Dash is that rarity: a perfectionist in his research and a writer who perfectly carves out his story with a pen as sharp as a stiletto.' The Globe and Mail (Canada)
'Shows how history, when it is well-written and well researched, leaves today’s trendy servings of fact mulched with fiction for dead.'
The Australian
'Dash writes the best kind of history: detailed, imaginative storytelling founded on vast knowledge.' Minneapolis Star-Tribune
'History doesn't get much more readable.' New York Daily News
'An indefatigable researcher with a prodigious descriptive flair.' Sunday Telegraph
'No history I've read in years places you so deeply inside a piece of the past.' National Geographic Adventure