Michael David Wood (born 23 July 1948) is an English historian and broadcaster. He has presented numerous television documentary series, has made over 80 documentary films, most notably, Great Railway Journeys (1980), Art of the Western World, Legacy, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, Conquistadors, In Search of Myths and Heroes, and The Story of India (2007). He has written numerous books on English history including In Search of the Dark Ages, The Domesday Quest, In Search of England and In Search of Shakespeare^[1][2].

He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society^[1] and in 2009 he was awarded an honorary degree by Sunderland University^[3].

Early life and education

Wood was born in Moston, Manchester. He studied at Heald Place Primary School in Moss Side, Manchester. When he was eight, his family moved to Wythenshawe, where he went to Benchill Primary School, and later Manchester Grammar School, where he started taking part of theatre, including the first British amateur production of Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle^[4].

He did his graduation in History and English at Oriel College, Oxford, and even toured the USA for six weeks with A Midsummer Night's Dream in his final year. Later he did post-graduate research in Anglo-Saxon History, also from Oriel College^[1][4].

Career

In the 1970s Wood worked for the BBC in Manchester. He was first a reporter then an assistant producer on current affairs programmes, before returning to his love of history with his 1981 series In Search of the Dark Ages for BBC2. This explored the lives of leaders of the period, including Boadicea, King Arthur, Offa, Alfred the Great, Athelstan, Eric Bloodaxe and William the Conquerer (and gave rise to his first book, based upon the series).^[5]

He quickly became popular with female viewers for his blond good looks (he was humorously dubbed "the thinking woman's crumpet" by British newspapers), his deep voice, and his habit of wearing tight jeans and a sheepskin jacket. However, his ability to present history in striking and memorable ways has always drawn a diverse audience.

Wood's work is also well known in the United States, where it receives much airplay on PBS and on various cable television networks. The series Legacy (1992) is one of his more frequently broadcast documentaries on U.S. television.

In 2006 he joined the British School of Archaeology in Iraq campaign, which aimed to train and encourage new Iraqi archaeologists, and he has lectured on the subject.^[6]

Personal life

His partner for several years, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, was journalist and broadcaster Pattie Coldwell.^[7][8] He currently lives in North London with his wife, television producer Rebecca Ysabel Dobbs, and two daughters, Minakshi and Jyoti.^[9]

Television series

• Great Railway Journeys (1980)
• In Search of... the Dark Ages (1981)
• Great Little Railways (episode 3) (1983)
• In Search of... The Trojan War (1985)
• Domesday: A Search for the Roots of England (1988)
• Art of the Western World (1989)
• Legacy: A Search for the Origins of Civilization (1992)
• In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (1997)
• Conquistadors (2000)
• In Search of... Shakespeare (2003)
• In Search of... Myths and Heroes (2005)
• The Story of India (2007)
• In Search of... Beowulf (2009) (a.k.a. Michael Wood on Beowulf)

Documentaries

• Darshan: An Indian Journey (1989)
• Traveller's Tales: The Sacred Way (1991)
• Saddam's Killing Fields (1993)
• Hitler's Search for the Holy Grail (1999)
• Gilbert White: Nature Man (2006)
• Christina: A Medieval Life (2008)
• Alexander's Greatest Battle (2009)

Bibliography

• In Search of the Dark Ages (BBC Books, 1981)^[10]

• In Search of the Trojan War (1985)
• Domesday: A Search for the Roots of England (1988)
• Legacy: A Search for the Origins of Civilization (1992)
• The Smile of Murugan: A South Indian Journey (1995)
• In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (1997)
• In Search of England: Journeys Into the English Past (1999)
• Conquistadors (2000)
• Shakespeare (2003)
• In Search of Myths and Heroes (2005)
• India: An Epic Journey Across the Subcontinent (2007)

References

External links

• At the BBC television website:
  • The Story of the Conquistadors
  • In Search of Shakespeare
  • In Search of Myths and Heroes
• Maya Vision — production company for some of Wood's documentaries.
  • Saddam's Killing Fields — production company's catalogue entry.
• In the Footsteps of Alexander The Great
• Michael Wood on Gilbert White and related BBC Four documentary article.
• Darshan, An Indian Journey
• Christina: A Medieval Life, from the BBC Four site

it:Michael Wood pt:Michael Wood

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