Philip Taylor

Phil, as he was generally known, hoped and believed that the lives of soldiers could be saved if they were taught to communicate more effectively.

An historian by training and instinct, Phil was particularly interested in the military application of communications, especially after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, and passionately believed that academics have a duty to make their expertise available to those involved in its practical application. He particularly enjoyed delivering his research to military communities around the world.

After the horrific events of 2001 and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, he was in much demand by American and British armed forces for his expertise in Psychological Operations (Psyops).

His interest in this subject began during his PhD research which resulted in a seminal work.

Born on Merseyside in 1954, Phil was originally destined for a career as a goalkeeper until a knee injury confined him to bed. Bored, he started to read histories and was hooked.

Reflecting on the career this led to, he once remarked: "I realised 30 years ago that I am just a goalkeeper pretending to be an academic."

His entire academic career was spent at Leeds University. He graduated with a first class honours degree in History in 1975 and was awarded his PhD in 1978.

He then joined the School of History as a lecturer in international history and politics and became senior lecturer in 1988.

He also found love at the university, meeting his future wife Sue Heward on their second day as undergraduates in the School of History.

In 1990, Phil was seconded to be deputy director of the University's Institute of Communications Studies (ICS). He became reader in international communications in 1992 and was awarded his chair in 1998 when he became the institute's second director.

Generations of students – undergraduates, postgraduates and doctoral – were inspired by his enthusiasm and his egalitarian open-door style of teaching and supervision.

In and outside the lecture theatre, his knowledge and passion for his subject were unfaltering.

He leaves behind a towering body of scholarship.

His first book in particular, The Projection of Britain: British Overseas Publicity and Propaganda, 1919-1939 – based on his PhD research – revealed for the first time the whole story of British propaganda between the wars, and set the benchmark for research that combined history with communications. Its importance to the field was recognised by its re-issue in 2007.

Phil had a strong passion for the cinema, and his 1988 book, Britain and Cinema in the Second World War, is considered by film historians to be one of the finest analyses of the subject.

His reputation was secured by his history of propaganda, Munitions of the Mind: War Propaganda from the Ancient World to the Nuclear Age. It was his 1992 study War and the Media: Propaganda and Persuasion in the Gulf War which connected his contemporary interests with his historian's approach.

This brought his work to the attention of military education courses at the Defence Intelligence and Security School (DISS); Chicksands; Cranfield University; the Royal College of Defence Studies; the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London; Sandhurst and the Joint Services Command Staff College (JSCSC) at Shrivenham.

He was prolific, being the author of over 100 articles or book chapters, 14 books (including a biography of Steven Spielberg and a volume published in Greek), and countless other contributions to collections, series and media around the world.

One of his most valuable achievements is his website which he maintained for over 15 years.

In 2006, Phil was made distinguished visiting professor in communications and media studies at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Shah Alam, Malaysia, and visited Malaysia every summer to lecture.

He was also an adjunct professor of the Centre for Media and Information Warfare Studies at UiTM and a fellow of the Centre for Public Diplomacy in the University of Southern California.

In 2008, he was made a visiting professor at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom at Cranfield University as part of his duties on the Postgraduate Certificate in Information Operations now being taught there.

He was also made a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1982 and a member of the Public Diplomacy Council in Washington DC in 2008.

Professor Philip Taylor is survived by his wife Sue, his mother Hilda and his brother Alex.