The Cambridge School of historiography is a

school of thought A school of thought, or intellectual tradition, is the perspective of a group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, economics, cultural movement, or art movement. ...

which approaches the study of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

from the imperialist point of view. It emerged especially at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in the 1960s.

John Andrew Gallagher John Andrew Gallagher (1 April 1919 – 5 March 1980), known as Jack Gallagher, was an historian of the British Empire who between 1963 and 1970 held the Beit Professorship of Commonwealth History at the University of Oxford and from 1971 until ...

(1919–80) was especially influential, particularly in his article with

Ronald Robinson Ronald "Robbie" Edward Robinson, CBE, DFC, FBA (3 September 1920 – 19 June 1999) was a distinguished historian of the British Empire who between 1971 and 1987 held the Beit Professorship of Commonwealth History at the University of Oxford. ...

on " The Imperialism of Free Trade". Leaders of the School include Anil Seal, Gordon Johnson, Richard Gordon, and David A. Washbrook.

Selected works

* Gallagher, John, and Ronald Robinson. "The Imperialism of Free Trade," ''Economic History Review'' (August 1953) 6#1 pp 1–15,
in JSTOR
* Gallagher, John. ''The Decline, Revival and Fall of the British Empire'' (Cambridge, 1982
excerpt and text search
* Anil Seal, ''The Emergence of Indian Nationalism: Competition and Collaboration in the Later Nineteenth Century'' (1971) * Gordon Johnson, ''Provincial Politics and Indian Nationalism: Bombay and the Indian National Congress 1880–1915'' (2005) * Rosalind O'Hanlon and David Washbrook, eds. ''Religious Cultures in Early Modern India: New Perspectives'' (2011) * Robinson, Ronald, John Gallagher and Alice Denny. '' Africa and the Victorians: The Official Mind of Imperialism'' (1978)

Criticism

Critics have attacked various ideas of the School. In ''The New Imperial Histories Reader,'' Stephen Howe has assembled articles by critics who take aim especially at P. J. Marshall, D. K. Fieldhouse, Robinson and Gallagher, and A. G. Hopkins.

Howard Spodek Howard Spodek (November 4, 1941 – August 20, 2023) was an American world historian, a professor of history and geography and urban studies at Temple University.social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

models, downplaying of ideology, and their excessive emphasis on Indian self-seeking and the importance of British imperial initiatives in achieving modernization. He recommends a deeper appreciation of Indian initiatives, and more attention to the emerging importance of public life in many areas of society rather than just a concentration on politics.Howard Spodek, "Pluralist Politics in British India: The Cambridge Cluster of Historians of Modern India," ''American Historical Review,'' (June 1979) 84#3 pp 688–707

Selected works

Criticism

See also

Notes

Further reading