Dr Selena Daly

Historian and Author

I am an historian and writer focusing on the history and culture of Italy. In my academic role, I am an Associate Professor in Italian Studies at University College London. As an author and speaker, I love sharing my research with diverse audiences beyond academia.

I am currently writing a trade book about the global history of Italian emigration from Marco Polo to today, to appear with Viking Penguin, Hodder & Stoughton, and Mondadori in 2028.

I have written academic work about a wide range of topics including Italian emigrants during the First World War; Italian Fascist architecture in Albania; shopping and socialising in 19th-century Milan; and the art and literature of the Italian avant-garde movement Futurism. See my academic publications.

I am represented by Anna Power at Johnson & Alcock.

Person with long hair and chevron-patterned shirt against gray background.

Books

  • Logos of four publishing companies: Penguin Viking with text only, Hodder & Stoughton with an animal illustration, a logo featuring a ship, and Mondadori with an "M" symbol.

    The World is Our Homeland: A Global History of Italian Emigration

    Trade book under contract with Viking Penguin (US/Canada), Hodder & Stoughton (UK/Commonwealth) and Mondadori (Italy)

  • Book cover of 'Emigrant Soldiers' by Selena Daly featuring a ship on rough seas.

    Emigrant Soldiers: Mobilising Italians Abroad in the First World War

    Forthcoming with Cambridge University Press, June 2025

  • Italian Futurism and the First World War

    University of Toronto Press, 2016

  • Book cover of 'Landscapes of the First World War' featuring rugged mountain peaks, rocky terrain, and barbed wire.

    Landscapes of the First World War

    Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, co-edited with Martina Salvante and Vanda Wilcox

Portrait of a woman with long red hair wearing a black top against a gray background.

Media

I enjoy communicating my research to non-academic audiences. I have appeared on BBC Radio 4 – on Free Thinking speaking about Futurism and on Archive on 4 speaking about Fascism. I was featured as a ‘talking head’ on the documentary The World War, 1914–1945, available on AppleTV and Amazon Prime.

Recently, I’ve written a number of travel tips that have appeared in The Guardian – including on a literary café in Milan; the modernist bar in Ventimiglia train station; an anti-Mafia walking tour in Palermo; a day-trip from Turin; and a modern art gallery in Dublin.

From 2019-2023, I was a member of Migration Collective, an organisation that uses arts-based methods to examine experiences of contemporary migration and displacement. I co-organised the London Migration Film Festival and the Migration and Diaspora Literature Festival. Among other activities, I contributed to the Refugee Week programming of the National Maritime Museum, London and organised an interactive workshop about how being a migrant affects how we experience mortality, death and bereavement.

As part of my research on the Italian art movement Futurism, I have delivered public talks at museums and galleries, including at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, London; at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; and at the Center for Italian Modern Art, New York.

Projects

  • Historic building with arched entrance and sculptures, red brick facade, and decorative mural.

    Italian Diaspora in the UK

    I am working on a number of projects focused on Italian immigrants to England since 1945, particularly the communities in Bedford and London.

    Read More
  • Mural featuring a historical scene with a leader saluting over a crowd, soldiers, and workers, with a neon sign that reads "Qui non sbarcherà mai nessuno."

    Architecture of Fascist Italy

    I conduct research on the architectural and artistic legacies of Fascism, both in Italy and in former Italian colonies.

    Read More
  • Tall brick and concrete building with tower and curved facade against a clear blue sky.

    Teaching Italian History

    I conduct research into innovative ways of teaching Italian history at university. I also enjoy engaging with secondary-school teachers to develop teaching materials.

    Read More