Christopher Hibbert
MC (born Arthur Raymond Hibbert; 5 March 1924 – 21 December 2008) was an English author, historian and biographer. He has been called "a pearl of biographers" (''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members o ...
'') and "probably the most widely-read
popular historian of our time and undoubtedly one of the most prolific" (''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...
'').
Hibbert was a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...
and the author of many books, including ''The Story of England'', ''Disraeli'', ''Edward VII'', ''George IV'', ''The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici'', and ''Cavaliers and Roundheads''.
Biography
Arthur Raymond Hibbert was born in
Enderby, Leicestershire in 1924, the son of
Canon H. V. Hibbert (died 1980) and his wife Maude. He was the second of three children, and christened Arthur Raymond.
He was educated at Radley College in
Oxfordshire before he went up to
Oriel College at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...
.
[ He was awarded the degrees of BA and later MA.
He left Oriel College to join the ]Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, where a sergeant major referred to Hibbert as " Christopher Robin" (of ''Winnie the Pooh'' books) based upon his youthful looks. The name "Christopher" subsequently stuck. During World War II, Hibbert served as an infantry officer in the London Irish Rifles regiment in Italy, reaching the rank of captain. He was wounded twice and awarded the Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC i ...
in 1945.[
From 1945 to 1959, he was a partner in a firm of land agents and auctioneers,][ and began his writing career in 1957.][ Hibbert was awarded the Heinemann Award for Literature in 1962 for ''The Destruction of Lord Raglan''.]
Personal life
Hibbert lived at Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and ...
, Oxfordshire, and was a member of the Army and Navy Club and the Garrick Club. He was married to Susan Piggford and the couple had three children: his literary executor Kate Hibbert, television writer Jimmy Hibbert and music journalist Tom Hibbert.[
He died on 21 December 2008, in Henley, from bronchial pneumonia at the age of 84.][ Subscription needed.]
Works
* ''The Road to Tyburn'' (New World, 1957)
* '' King Mob'' (Longmans, 1958)
* ''Wolfe at Quebec'' (Longmans, 1959)
* ''Corunna'' (B. T. Batsford,1961)
* '' The Destruction of Lord Raglan'' (Longmans, 1961)
* ''Benito Mussolini'' (Longmans, 1962)
* ''The Battle of Arnhem'' (B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1962)
* '' The Roots of Evil: A Social History of Crime and Punishment'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1963)
* ''Agincourt'' (Batsford, 1964)
* ''The Court at Windsor'' (Longmans, 1964)
* ''Garibaldi and his enemies'' (Longmans, 1965)
* ''The Making of Charles Dickens'' (Harper & Row, 1967)
* ''Waterloo'' (New English Library, 1967)
* ''Highwaymen'' (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1967)
* ''London, the Biography of a City'' (Longmans, Green & Co., 1969)
* ''Charles I'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1968)
* The Grand Tour (Viking, 1969)
* ''The Search for King Arthur'' (American Heritage, 1969)
* ''The Dragon Wakes'' (Harper & Row, 1970)
* ''The Personal History of Samuel Johnson'' (Longmans, 1971)
* ''Tower of London'' (Newsweek eries: ''Wonders of Man'' 1971)
* ''Edward: The Uncrowned King'' (The History Book Club, 1972)
* ''George IV'' (Vol 1: Longman, 1972; Vol 2: Allen Lane)
* ''The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall'' (Morrow, 1975)
* ''Versailles'' (Series: ''Wonders of Man'', 1975)
* ''Edward VII: A Portrait'' (Allen Lane, 1976)
* ''Social History of Victoria Britain'' (Book Club Associates, 1974)
* ''Disraeli and his World'' (Thames and Hudson, 1978)
* ''The Great Mutiny: India, 1857'' (Allen Lane, 1978), as Penguin Pocketbook: 1980, .
* ''The Court of St James's: The Monarch at Work from Victoria to Elizabeth II'' (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1979)
* ''The French Revolution'' (Penguin, 1980) .
* ''Africa Explored'' (Allen Lane, 1982)
* ''Chateaux of the Loire'' (Series: ''Wonders of Man'', 1983)
* '' The London Encyclopaedia'' with Ben Weinreb (Macmillan, 1983)
* ''Rome, the Biography of a City'' (Norton, 1985)
* ''Cities and Civilizations'' (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986)
* ''The English: A Social History'' (Grafton, 1987)
* ''Venice: The Biography of a City'' 1988 google.ca listing
* '' The Encyclopaedia of Oxford'' (Macmillan, 1988)
* ''Redcoats and Rebels
''Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution through British Eyes'' is a history of the American Revolutionary War (using its British name of "The American War of Independence") from the British perspective by historian Christopher Hibbert. The b ...
'' (Grafton, 1990)
* ''The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I, Genius of the Golden Age'' (Addison–Wesley, 1991)
* ''Florence: Biography of a City'' (Norton, 1993)
* ''Cavaliers & Roundheads: The English Civil War, 1642–1649'' (HarperCollins, 1993)
* ''The Story of England'' (Phaidon Press, 1994)
* ''Nelson: A Personal History'' (Penguin, 1994)
*
* ''Wellington: A Personal History'' (Da Capo, 1997)
* ''George III: A Personal History'' (Penguin, 1998)
* ''Queen Victoria: A Personal History'' (HarperCollins, 2000)
* ''The Marlboroughs: John and Sarah Churchill 1650-1744'' (Viking, 2001)
* ''Napoleon: His Wives and Women'' (HarperCollins, 2002)
* ''Great Battles: Agincourt'' (Phoenix new edition 2003)
* ''Disraeli: A Personal History'' (HarperCollins, 2004)
* ''Disraeli: The Victorian Dandy Who Became Prime Minister'' (Palgrave Macmillan, New York City 2006) .
* ''The Borgias and Their Enemies: 1431–1519'' (Mariner Books, 2009)
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hibbert, Christopher
1924 births
2008 deaths
People from Enderby, Leicestershire
People educated at Radley College
Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
English humanists
Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
British military historians
Military personnel from Leicestershire
British Army personnel of World War II
Recipients of the Military Cross
London Irish Rifles officers
Deaths from pneumonia in England
Historians of the American Revolution
Historians of the French Revolution
Historians of the Napoleonic Wars
Historians of England
English encyclopedists
20th-century English historians
English biographers