Christopher Lloyd

Lloyd is regularly invited to give talks 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. He gave a TEDx conference lecture at Reading University in early 2015.

Lloyd is a regular feature at Hay Festival, Chalke Valley Festival, Bath Literature Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Oxford Literary Festival, Woodstock Festival, Marlborough Literature Festival and Henley Literary Festival. Overseas appearances include the Asahi Environmental Forum 2013, Jaipur International Book Festival, Gibraltar Literary Festival, PINC Sarasota and PINC Amsterdam.

Lloyd has also given talks at the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, The Daiwa Foundation, Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Linnaean Society of London, The Royal Institution, The Royal Geographical Society (Christmas lecture 2013) and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Wallbooks –in various formats including Stickerbook, Quizbook and Posterbook.

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 Bayeaux Tapestry.

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

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.

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 Ka2ouche story boarding education software, which was the original spark for the creation of the illustrated timeline in Lloyd's books today. It was in his role at Immersive Education that Lloyd began to realise the true impact that classroom resources have on a child's ability to learn.

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 Talk Talk.

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

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. 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.

Christopher Lloyd (born 1 April 1968) is a historian, educationalist and author, best known for his sweeping narratives on big history (the history of the world). He is the author of the best selling book What on Earth Happened: The Complete Story of the Planet (Bloomsbury, 2008), which has sold 500,000 copies. Lloyd is a keen 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.