| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Hugh Taylor |
| Born | 6 December 1988 Ballymena, County Antrim |
| Batting | Right-handed |
| Bowling | Legbreak |
| Role | Bowler |
| Domestic team information | |
| Years | Team |
| 2008–2014 | Cambridge MCCU |
| 2009–2015 | Ballymena Cricket Club |
Source:ESPNcricinfo,1 May 2016 | |
Michael Hugh Taylor (born 6 December 1988) is an Irish historian and a former first-class cricketer who played for Cambridge University Cricket Club from 2008 to 2014. [1] [2] Following his academic studies in history,Taylor has written two popular books on aspects of nineteenth-century history,and contributed to public debate on Britain's role in slavery. [3] [4]
Born at Ballymena,County Antrim,Taylor studied at Cambridge University from 2007 to 2015. He was a student at Gonville and Caius College,where he studied for a B.A.,an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in history. [5] Taylor's PhD thesis titled The defence of British Colonial Slavery,1823-33,was awarded in 2015. [6] As a student,Taylor played cricket for Cambridge University Cricket Club,from 2008 to 2014. [7] He earned a Blue for cricket in 2010,by representing Cambridge in the annual Oxford-Cambridge cricket matches. [8] He was also a member of the Gonville and Caius team that won the televised quiz competition,University Challenge,in 2015. [6]
After completing his doctoral studies,Taylor was a lecturer in Modern British History at Balliol College,Oxford,and a Visiting Fellow at the British Library's Eccles Centre for American Studies. In 2018,he reached the final of Mastermind,a televised quiz show. [9]
Taylor has published three books. His first was An Independent Empire:Diplomacy &War in the Making of the United States published in 2020 with political scientist Michael S. Kochin. [10] His second,also published in 2020,was The Interest:How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery. [11] This book was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in political writing in 2021. [12]
In March 2024,he published his third book,Impossible Monsters. This is a popular history of the arguments about science and religion that followed the discoveries of fossilised bones and skeletons of primordial creatures,including Plesiosaurus , Megalosaurus and Dimorphodon ,during the early 19th century. [13] [14]
Taylor works for PwC,as a senior manager in their indirect tax disputes section. [15] [16]