Dr. Richard F. Spall came to Ohio Wesleyan University in 1984. He is currently Cornelia Coles Fairbanks Professor of History and Book Review Editor of The Historian. He attended Hanover College and earned his B.A. in history at Wittenberg in 1977. He completed an A.M. in British and modern European history at the University of Illinois in 1979 and received his Ph.D. from that same institution in 1985. His fields are the history of Britain and the Empire/Commonwealth since 1688, the history of England to 1688, the history of modern Europe, and historiography.

Professor Spall's research interests concentrate on Victorian Britain with emphasis on political, intellectual, social and economic history. He has published on such topics as the court of Queen Victoria, free trade, radicalism, and liberalism.

The winner of teaching awards at Ohio Wesleyan and elsewhere, Dr. Spall teaches Foundations of Modern European History, Foundations of Historical Thought, The Reformation Era, Economic History, The Making of Britain, British History Since 1688, several topical courses in British history (such as Legal and Constitutional History, Victorianism, The Radical Tradition, and The Crisis of Tudor-Stuart England), as well as Senior Research Seminar. 

As Book Review Editor of The Historian, Professor Spall oversees the publication of more than 300 book reviews annually in the nation's leading historical journal with a student staff of more than two dozen Editorial Assistants and eleven Regional Subeditors at other universities. Each semester Dr. Spall offers internships in the Book Review Office of The Historian to qualified students.

Dr. Spall also serves on the editorial board of H-Albion. He lives in Delaware with his wife, who is a teacher, and two sons. If you wish to contact Dr. Spall, you may e-mail him at: rfspall@owu.edu or you can call him at The Historian: (740) 368-3642.