A trained historian and New Zealander with Australian citizenship, Brian Stoddart has lived and worked for extended periods in Asia, the Middle East, Canada and the Caribbean as a teacher and researcher, university executive, aid and development contractor, and commentator.

His areas of expertise cover the histories and cultures of the broader Indo-Pacific as well as the Middle East; the culture and politics of sport globally; Australia and New Zealand; and the role of “soft power” globally.

With a PhD on modern India, he is the author or co-writer of twenty-five books of non-fiction, memoir, biography and crime fiction set in British India. They include some of the first serious research into the social role of sport in Australia; cricket and politics in the Caribbean; nationalist politics in India; Australia-India relationships; a memoir of living and working in Syria immediately before the ongoing war there; and the biography of an Anglo-Italian in the Indian Civil Service under the Raj.

Brian is also a competition-winning screenwriter with successes in Australia, India, Canada and the United Kingdom. Three of his scripts are currently in production. The third of his crime novels, A Straits Settlement, was a finalist in New Zealand’s Ngaio Marsh Awards for best crime novel.

In addition, he is a long-time contributor press, radio and television worldwide as a commentator on his areas of expertise, and he continues to write for newspapers in India as well as for Global Policy Journal in the United Kingdom.

Brian Stoddart is a sought-after cruise ship speaker and lecturer with strong approval ratings reflecting intensive preparation, emphasis on visual impact, trained teaching experience, and his ability to connect with a wide range of audiences.  His subjects draw on history, art, literature, sport, popular culture and international affairs, relevant to regions and destinations. He is known for explaining complex issues in entertaining and informative ways.

He is Emeritus Professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne where he served as Vice-Chancellor and President, and Distinguished Fellow at the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne. As a contractor he has worked for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Union, largely on higher education reform.

Brian has lived and worked in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Syria, Jordan, China, Canada, South Africa, and Barbados where he played his last year of competitive cricket.

Based with wife Sandra in Fremantle, Western Australia Brian is a keen mountain biker and photographer with interests in art, music and film.