Geoffrey Barraclough
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Geoffrey Barraclough (10 May 1908 – 26 December 1984) was an English historian, known as a medievalist and historian of Germany.


Biography

He was educated at
Bootham School Bootham School is a private Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19 and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school was ...
(1921–1924) in York and at Bradford Grammar School (1924–1925). He read History as an undergraduate at Oriel College, Oxford University in 1926–1929, spent the following two years studying in Munich and Rome, then returned to Oxford, to
Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...
, where he was a Harmsworth Senior Scholar (1932-1934) and a Junior Research Fellow (1934-1936). During the Second World War, in which he served in the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
, Barraclough's sympathy for the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and public opposition to the
Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...
of 1944 drew the criticism of
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...
, among others. He was Professor of Medieval History,
University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...
, 1945–1956, in which period he lived in the Seneschal's House, Halton Village, Stevenson Research Professor,
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
, 1956–1962,
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
, 1965–1968, and Professor of History,
Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
, 1968–1970 and 1972–1981. He was Chichele Professor of Modern History, the University of Oxford from 1970 to 1973. Barraclough began his career as a medievalist but developed into a contemporary global historian. He was deeply concerned about history's uses and relevance in the 20th century. It seemed to him that political debate and ultimately political decisions suffered from a lack of historical insight. To rectify this problem Barraclough developed historiographical methods for comparative history. By anchoring study of the past at the origins of a historical investigation, while simultaneously researching contemporary areas most directly connected to that anchor research, his methods established comparisons between past and present. With this two-pronged research structure, Barraclough was able to organize his investigations by looking from the past forward and from the present backward. He sought historical threads that connect past to present while also observing the discontinuities that separate past from present. In his writing, Barraclough turned to geography, social and economic cycles, empires, trade and tribes as historical units he felt most clearly connect the past to present or combine to end that continuity. Using these methods allowed him to sketch an outline of world history, identifying its ups, downs and turning points. His first two books on historiography, ''History in a Changing World'' and ''An Introduction to Contemporary History'' are collections of essays. With scholarly authority, Barraclough served as editor of '' The Times Atlas of World History'', which continues to be revised. He was also General Editor for the popular "Library of European Civilization" series, published by
Thames and Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...
from 1965 with many notable contributors.


Works

*''Public Notaries and the Papal Curia'' (1934) *''Papal Provisions: Aspects of Church History Constitutional, Legal and Administrative in the Later Middle Ages'' (1935) *''Factors in German History'' (1946) *''The Origins of Modern Germany'' (1946) *''Mediaeval Germany 911 - 1250'' (1948) essays by German historians, translator *''Crown, Community and Parliament in the Later Middle Ages: Studies in English Constitutional History by Gaillard T. Lapsley '' (1951) editor with Helen M. Cam *''The Earldom and County Palatine of Chester'' (1953) *''History in a Changing World'' (1955) *''Survey of International Affairs, 1955-1956'' (1960) with Rachel F. Wall *''Social Life in Early England'' (1960) *''Survey of International Affairs, 1956-1958'' (1962) *''European Unity in Thought and Action'' (1963) Vogelenzang Lecture *''Survey of International Affairs, 1959-1960'' (1964) *'' An Introduction to Contemporary History'' (1964) *''The Mediaeval Empire - Idea and Reality'' (1964) *''The Historical Association, 1906-1966'' (1967) Presidential Address *''The Medieval Papacy'' (1968) from the "Library of European Civilization" series *''Eastern and Western Europe in the Middle Ages'' (1970) from the "Library of European Civilization" series *''Management in a Changing Economy'' (1976) *''The Crucible of Europe: The Ninth and Tenth Centuries in European History'' (1976) later as ''The Crucible of the Middle Ages'' *'' The Times Atlas of World History'' (1978) *''Main Trends in History'' (1978) *''The Turning Points in World History'' (1979) *''The Christian World: A Social and Cultural History of Christianity'' (1981) *''The Times Concise Atlas of World History'' (1982) *''From Agadir to Armageddon: Anatomy of a Crisis'' (1982) *''Charters of the Anglo-Norman Earls of Chester, c.1071-1237'' (1988) *''Atlas of World History'' (1989) with Norman Stone, and later editions and atlases *''The Times History of the World'' (2001) with
Richard Overy Richard James Overy (born 23 December 1947) is a British historian who has published on the history of World War II and Nazi Germany. In 2007, as ''The Times'' editor of ''Complete History of the World'', he chose the 50 key dates of world his ...


References


Further reading

*Dewar, Kenneth C. "Geoffrey Barraclough: From Historicism to Historical Science," ''Historian'' (1994) 56:449-64
''Author and Book Info.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barraclough, Geoffrey 1908 births 1984 deaths Military personnel from Bradford Writers from Bradford People educated at Ackworth School Chichele Professors of Modern History Academics of the University of Liverpool Academics of the University of London Brandeis University faculty Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Bletchley Park people Royal Air Force officers English medievalists People educated at Bradford Grammar School People educated at Bootham School 20th-century English historians Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Civil servants in the Foreign Office Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of Merton College, Oxford