Robert Hewison

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Robert Hewison (born 1943) is a British academic and author. In addition to being the Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford from 1999-2000, and Hewison has written or co-written over 20 books on British culture in the age of mass media. These include Monty Python: The Case Against; Footlights!: A hundred years of Cambridge comedy; and a series of books detailing culture in the UK at various periods of the Twentieth Century. Hewison is also an authority on the life and influence of former Slade Professor John Ruskin - in fact, his earliest publication was John Ruskin: The Argument of the Eye in 1976. In an interview, Michael Palin credits Hewison with introducing him to the idea of earning a living by making people laugh, and for pushing him into performing, which, Palin says, he would never have done as he was too shy.

Hewison earned an M.A, M.Litt and D.Litt at Brasenose College, Oxford. He taught English Literature at Lancaster University.