Marcus Falkner Cunliffe (1922–1990) was a British scholar who specialized in cultural and military
American Studies
American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory.
Schol ...
. He was particularly interested in comparing how Europeans viewed Americans and how Americans viewed Europeans.
[Guide to the Marcus Cunliffe Papers, 1960-1990](_blank)
Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University
Biography
Cunliffe was born in Lancashire.
He read history at
Oriel College
Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, w ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Sandhurst,
served in the British Army during World War II.
From 1947 to 1949 he was at
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
,
[Author biography in ''The Literature of the United States'' (.) Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970 rd edition] where he was
Harkness Fellow
The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several cou ...
br>
It was in the US that he met his first wife,
Mitzi Cunliffe, Mitzi Solomon, and they returned together in 1949 to the UK. From 1949 to 1964 Cunliffe taught American history at the University of Manchester.
They were divorced in 1971.
That same year he married
Lesley Hume. Their marriage was dissolved in 1980.
From 1965 to 1980, Cunliffe was Professor of American Studies at the University of Sussex, which established the Cunliffe Centre in 1991.
From 1980 Cunliffe was University Professor at George Washington University.
Cunliffe wrote or edited more than 15 books on history and literature. Cunliffe's best known early work was ''George Washington: Man and Monument'', published in 1958.
His papers are held at George Washington University's Special Collections Research Center, located in the Estelle and Melvin
Gelman Library
The Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, more commonly known as Gelman Library, is the main library of The George Washington University, and is located on its Foggy Bottom campus. The Gelman Library, the Eckles Library on the Mount Vernon campus a ...
.
Cunliffe died of leukemia in Washington D.C. on September 2, 1990.
Works
* ''The American Presidency''
* ''The Literature of the United States'' (1954)
* Marcus Cunliffe and
Robin W. Winks, eds. ''Pastmasters: Some Essays on American Historians'' (1969)
* Marcus Cunliffe. ''Soldiers and Civilians: The Martial Spirit in America, 1775–1865'' (1969).
* ''George Washington: Man and Monument'' (1958)
References
Further reading
* Brian Holden Reid
‘Cunliffe, Marcus Falkner (1922–1990)’ ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'',
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
, 2004, accessed 5 June 2007
Guide to the Marcus Cunliffe Papers, 1960-1990, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunliffe, Marcus
1922 births
1990 deaths
Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
Yale University alumni
Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester
Academics of the University of Sussex
Harkness Fellows
Harvard University faculty
Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Royal Tank Regiment officers
British Army personnel of World War II
British expatriates in the United States
Military personnel from Lancashire