Publications
Article
Contact!: “‘Perfect Health, Mechanical Mind’: Morale, Mental Health, and Judgements of Character in the Royal Flying Corps, 1914-1918” (October 2024).
Book Review
H-Sci-Med-Tech, H-Net Reviews: Review of Rebecca Schwartz Greene’s Breaking Point: The Ironic Evolution of Psychiatry in World War II (June, 2023).
Blog Contribution
Contribution to RAF Museum Archives article on archival research on James McCudden’s manuscript for Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps (September 2018).
Article
EPOCH Magazine: “‘A Man’s World’: Masculinity and the First World War Ace in Interwar Film” (September 2023).
Article
EPOCH Magazine: “For the “Ordinary Man”: A Reflection on the Post-9/11 Perception of HBO’s Band of Brothers” (December 2023).
Article
James Blair Historical Review: "Setting the Sun on the British Empire: British Economic Interests and the Decolonization of Hong Kong” (Vol. 9: Iss. 2, Article 3, 2019).
Blog Contribution
Contribution to the National D-Day Memorial Blog: “Miracle of Deliverance”: The Evacuation of Dunkirk” (June 2016).
Book Review
First World War Studies: Review of Mark C. Wilkins’s Aero-Neurosis: Pilots of the First World War and the Psychological Legacies of Combat (December, 2023).
Upcoming
Upcoming book review on aviators from Texas A&M in the First World War. (Date TBD)
Upcoming book chapter on physical space and masculinity on First World War British aerodromes. (Date TBC)
Upcoming chapter on art museums, morale, and American identity during World War II. (Date TBC)
Podcasts
Never Mind The Dambusters Podcast: October 2024
“Host Jane Gulliford Lowes engages with American historian Abby Whitlock to explore the portrayal of the bombing campaigns during World War II in the series Masters of the Air. They discuss Abby's personal journey into military aviation history, the cultural perceptions of RAF and USAAF crews, the representation of German civilians, and the themes of chivalry and heroism. The conversation also delves into the psychological toll of combat and the differences in how these narratives are portrayed in American and British media.
The infamous (well in the UK anyway!) pub scene in MOTA ep.2 ( the fight between the US and RAF aircrews) is debated, and Abby and Jane also mull over the legacy of Band of Brothers and The Pacific .” (Audio)
The Damcasters Podcast: January 2024
“The First World War Ace on Film with Abby Whitlock”: How has the portrayal of the fighter pilot on film reflected and refined the image of the pilot we know today? A look at some of the earliest flying films Wings (1927), Howard Hughes’ Hell’s Angels (1930) both Dawn Patrols (1930 and 1938) and Aces High (1976) to see how the First World War in the air shaped the image of the fighter pilot down to Top Gun and Blackadder. (Audio | Video)
Talks and Lectures
Great War Aviation Society: January 2025
Presented ““This is the Argosy of Friends” Royal Flying Corps Pilot Perceptions of Friendship, Comradeship, and Loneliness”.
2024 Conrad M. Hall Symposium for Virginia History: September 2024
Presented on Virginia's relationship with the Great Depression Era-Works Progress Administration and Virginia artists in the Index of American Design collection at the National Gallery of Art.
Society for Military History Conference: April 2024
Presented “‘The Super-cultural USO’: Amenities, Morale, and American Identity at the National Gallery of Art, 1941-1946”, analyzing the role of late cultural education and access to art in the morale of service personnel.
RAF Museum Lecture Series: April 2023
Presented ““It’s a rum life”: Physical Space and Morale Amongst Royal Flying Corps Scout Pilots”, exploring the use of shared spaces to maintain RFC morale and group identity. (Replay)
RAF Museum Annual Conference: September 2022
Presented “The Flying Ace on the Silver Screen: Film Portrayals as an Illustration of the Evolving Masculine Ideal and the Reality of the First World War”, analyzing the origin of the stereotypical “flying ace” image and representations on film. (Replay)
Upcoming
Presentation on stigma around mental health and preventative practices in the Royal Flying Corps (Leiden, Netherlands: March 2025)
RAF Museum Annual Conference: September 2020
Presented “Against the ‘Mischievous Device’: The Berlin Blockade as a case for collective defence in the Western Bloc”, breaking down one of the earliest case studies contributing to modern ideas of collective defense.
International Society for First World War Studies Twitter Conference (#LegaciesFWW2019)
Presented “A Return to Camelot?: British Identity, The Masculine Ideal, and the Romanticization of the Royal Flying Corps Image”, analyzing the role of late Victorian and Edwardian ideals about masculinity and class in the creation of the Royal Flying Corps and fighter pilots during World War One.