Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd (born 1 April 1968) is a historian, educationalist and author on big history.

He graduated with a double first in 1990.

Lloyd's Director of Studies at Cambridge University was Maurice Cowling who was also Michael Portillo’s mentor.

Lloyd joined News International in 1991 as a graduate trainee journalist on The Sunday Times newspaper.

Upon completing his degree, Lloyd was engaged as a researcher by Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, ex-Sunday Telegraph Editor and journalist, to help him write his memoir Tricks of Memory: An Autobiography, which was published in 1993.

Lloyd went on to gain a diploma in newspaper journalism from City University of London whilst working as a graduate trainee journalist on The Sunday Times.

In 1993 he was appointed Innovations Editor and Technology Correspondent in quick succession.

He won the 1994 Texaco award for Science Journalist of the Year.

In 1996 Lloyd became the paper's Internet Editor and was responsible for launching the first internet edition of The Times and The Sunday Times.

He co-founded the internet service provider LineOne, a joint internet venture between BT Group, United News & Media and News International, which is now TalkTalk.

In 2000 Lloyd left News International to take up a position as Chief Executive of Immersive Education, an education software publishing company based in Oxford.

He grew the company from its R&D phase, with zero revenue, to sales of in excess of £3 million.

Whilst at Immersive Education Lloyd launched Kar2ouche story boarding education software, which was the original spark for the creation of the illustrated timeline in Lloyd's books.

It was on his death in 2006 that Lloyd decided to continue the tradition that his uncle had started, by writing one book every year.

Lloyd attended Wellesley House School in Broadstairs followed by Charterhouse.

He was awarded two scholarships: Lady Ward History Scholarship and an Exhibition Scholarship, which enabled him to take up his place at Peterhouse, Cambridge University, to study history.

Lloyd left Immersive Education in 2006 to spend time travelling around Europe with his wife and two children, both of whom were home-educated, before setting up What on Earth Publishing in 2010.

He still writes occasional articles for The Telegraph and The Sunday Times and has a monthly column for CNN English Express Magazine in Japan.

Lloyd lives in rural Kent, near Tonbridge, with his wife and their two children.

The decision to home educate both girls was made when, at the age of 7, the eldest complained that she was bored at school.

Recognising that their daughter had become disengaged with the teaching methods used in the school, Lloyd and his wife developed a variety of creative learning techniques to re-engage and re-ignite their daughter's natural curiosity.

In 2006 Lloyd took a 4-month sabbatical to take his family on a tour of Europe, travelling by campervan.

Whilst visiting historical sites and teaching his daughters, Lloyd realised, despite having a double first from Cambridge University, he did not know basic information about the world and that the fragments he knew did not connect to give a complete picture of history - either natural or human.

It was at this point that Lloyd had the inspiration for his first book: A Brief History of Absolutely Everything, later renamed ''What on Earth Happened?

The Complete Story of the Planet, Life and People from the Big Bang to the Present Day'', which combines both the natural and human history of the world in a single 42 chapter narrative.

He is the author of What on Earth Happened: The Complete Story of the Planet (Bloomsbury, 2008) , which has sold 500,000 copies.

Lloyd is a advocate of connected learning.

In collaboration with Beckenham-based illustrator Andy Forshaw, Lloyd has established a format for telling giant narratives to young people by using illustrative timelines called Wallbooks, which present a broader view of world history and visualise connections between the past and the present day.

Lloyd gives talk at schools, literary festivals, universities, societies, museums, businesses and institutes on a variety of topics including cross-curricular integration, narrative journeys around each of his books as well as motivational lectures.

In 2010, wanting to publish a children's version of What on Earth Happened?, Lloyd teamed up with illustrator Andy Forshaw to pioneer a new format for big history storytelling that would feature a giant illustrated visual timeline that could be pulled-out and displayed on a wall, as well as read like a book.

The Wallbooks were designed to give young people an integrated view of the world by contextualising knowledge through connections.

Lloyd describes it as reviving the traditional art of telling stories through highly illustrated and intricate timelines such as the Codex Zouche-Nuttall and the Bayeux Tapestry.

This resulted in the formation of What on Earth Publishing, a non-fiction publishing house.

He gave a TEDx conference lecture at Reading University in early 2015.

Lloyd was born and spent his early years in Dorking, Surrey with his parents, 2 brothers and 2 sisters until the age of 6 when the family moved to Effingham.

His father, Angus Lloyd was an art dealer and one of the co-founders of Henri Lloyd Clothing along with Henri Strzelecki MBE.

Lloyd's great uncle was the English gardener and author Christopher Lloyd (gardener), OBE, of Great Dixter.

His great grandfather was Nathaniel Lloyd, an architect, printer and author who wrote several classic text books including The History of the English House and The History of British Brickworks.

It was he who hired Edwin Lutyens, the celebrated architect, to renovate and extend the gardens at Dixter, later renamed Great Dixter.

As Lloyd grew up, his great uncle became an inspiration to him.