W. J. Reader

William Joseph Reader (20 November 1920 – 5 June 1990)^[1] was an English historian who specialised in British company history. Theo Barker described him as "the foremost British company historian of his day".^[1]

Life

Born in Weston-super-Mare, Reader attended Taunton School before going up to Jesus College, Cambridge to read history.^[1] During the Second World War he served in the Royal Signals Corps.^[1]

Reader worked at Unilever in advertising, market research and public relations roles from 1950 to 1964.^[2] He left the company to become a freelance historian, and went on to write well-received histories of Imperial Chemical Industries, Grand Metropolitan and Weir Group, among others.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d In Memoriam: Dr W. J. Reader, 1920–1990 T. C. Barker Business History Vol. 33, Iss. 1, 1991
^ ^a ^b Judy Slinn, ‘Reader, William Joseph (1920–1990)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 30 Sept 2014

[auto-1] In Memoriam: Dr W. J. Reader, 1920–1990 T. C. Barker Business History Vol. 33, Iss. 1, 1991

[auto1-2] Judy Slinn, ‘Reader, William Joseph (1920–1990)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 30 Sept 2014

[1]

[2]

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