Alan Louis Charles Bullock, Baron Bullock, (13 December 1914 – 2 February 2004) was a British historian. He is best known for his book '' Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'' (1952), the first comprehensive biography of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, which influenced many other Hitler biographies.

Early life and career

Bullock was born in

Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southe ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

, England where his father worked as a

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner supple ...

and a

Unitarian Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present ...

preacher. He was educated at

Bradford Grammar School Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational independent day school located in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Entrance is by examination, except for the sixth form, where admission is based on GCSE results. The school ...

and

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Doroth ...

, where he read classics and modern history. After graduating in 1938, he worked as a research assistant for Winston Churchill, who was writing his ''

History of the English-Speaking Peoples ''A History of the English-Speaking Peoples'' is a four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies and possessions throughout the world, written by Winston Churchill, covering the period from Caesar's invasions of Britain (55 BC) to the en ...

.'' He was a Harmsworth Senior Scholar at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

, from 1938 to 1940. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Bullock worked for the European Service of the

British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

(BBC). After the war, he returned to Oxford as a history fellow at New College. Bullock was the censor of St Catherine's Society (1952-1962) and then founding master of

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is the newest college admitting both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868 (although t ...

(1962-1981), a college for undergraduates and graduates, divided between students of the sciences and the arts. He was credited with massive fundraising efforts to develop the college. Later, he was the first full-time

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...

of Oxford University (1969-1973). Bullock served as chairman of the National Advisory Committee on the Training and Supply of Teachers (1963-1965), the School's Council (1966-1969), the Committee of Inquiry into Reading and the Use of English (1972-1974), and the Committee of Inquiry on Industrial Democracy (1976-1977). Bullock first became known to the general public when he appeared on the informational BBC radio program ''

The Brains Trust ''The Brains Trust'' was an informational BBC radio and later television programme popular in the United Kingdom during the 1940s and 1950s, on which a panel of experts tried to answer questions sent in by the audience. History The series was ...

''.

''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny''

In 1952, Bullock published ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'', the first comprehensive biography of

, which he based on the transcripts of the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded ...

. This book dominated Hitler scholarship for many years. The book characterised Hitler as an opportunistic ''Machtpolitiker'' ("power politician"). In Bullock's opinion, Hitler was a "

mountebank Mountebank may refer to: * A charlatan who sells phony medicines from a platform * Monte Bank Monte Bank, Mountebank, Spanish Monte and Mexican Monte, sometimes just Monte, is a Spanish gambling card game and was known in the 19th century as t ...

", an opportunistic adventurer devoid of principles, beliefs or scruples whose actions throughout his career were motivated only by a lust for power. Bullock's views led in the 1950s to a debate with

Hugh Trevor-Roper Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton (15 January 1914 – 26 January 2003) was an English historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Trevor-Roper was a polemicist and essayist on a range of ...

, who argued that Hitler had possessed beliefs, albeit repulsive ones, and that his actions had been motivated by them. Bullock's ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

'' obituary commented that "Bullock's famous maxim 'Hitler was jobbed into power by backstairs intrigue' has stood the test of time".Frankland, Mark. ''Lord Bullock of Leafield'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

''. 3 February 2004. When reviewing ''Hitler and Stalin'' in ''

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'' ...

'' in 1991, John Campbell wrote of ''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'': "Although written so soon after the end of the war and despite a steady flow of fresh evidence and reinterpretation, it has not been surpassed in nearly 40 years: an astonishing achievement." In subsequent works, Bullock to some extent changed his mind about Hitler. His later writings show the dictator as much more of an ideologue, who pursued the ideas expressed in ''

Mein Kampf (; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for G ...

'' (and elsewhere) despite their consequences. That has become a widely-accepted view of Hitler, particularly in relation to the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. Taking note of the shift in interest among professional historians towards

social history Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...

in the 1960s, Bullock agreed that in general, deep long-term social forces are decisive in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, but there are times in which the Great Man is in his views decisive. In revolutionary circumstances, "It is possible for an individual to exert a powerful even a decisive influence on the way events develop and the policies that are followed".

Other works

Bullock's other works included ''The Humanist Tradition in the West'' (1985), ''Has History a Future?'' (1977), ''Great Lives of the Twentieth Century'' (1989), ''Meeting Teachers' Management Needs'' (1988), ''The forming of the nation'' (1969), ''Is History Becoming a Social Science? The Case of Contemporary History'' (1977) and ''The Life and Times of Ernest Bevin'' (1960), a three-volume biography of British Labour Foreign Secretary

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922–19 ...

. He was also editor of ''The Harper Dictionary of Modern Thought'' (1977), a project he suggested to the publisher when he found he could not define the word "

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of Biblical hermeneutics, biblical texts, wisdom literature, and Philosophy, philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles ...

". He had earlier co-edited with

Maurice Shock Sir Maurice Shock (15 April 1926 – 7 July 2018) was a British university administrator and educationalist. Shock was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and later read philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at Balliol College, Oxfo ...

a collection on ''The Liberal Tradition: From Fox to Keynes''. In the mid-1970s, Bullock used his committee skills to produce a report which proved to be influential in the classroom: '' A Language for Life'', about reading and the teaching of English, was published in 1975. Bullock also chaired the committee of inquiry on

industrial democracy Industrial democracy is an arrangement which involves workers making decisions, sharing responsibility and authority in the workplace. While in participative management organizational designs workers are listened to and take part in the decisi ...

commissioned in December 1975 by the second Labour Government of

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

. The committee's report, which was also known as the Bullock Report, published in 1977, recommended worker's control in large companies with employees having a right to hold representative worker directorships. Bullock also appeared as a political pundit, particularly during the BBC's coverage of the 1959 British general election.

Later works

Late in his life, Bullock published '' Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives'' (1991). A massive and influential work which he described in the introduction as "essentially a political biography, set against the background of the times in which they lived". He showed how the careers of Hitler and

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

fed off each other to some extent. Bullock comes to a thesis that Stalin's ability to consolidate power in his home country and, unlike Hitler, not to over-extend himself enabled him to retain power longer than Hitler. It was awarded the 1992

Wolfson History Prize The Wolfson History Prizes are literary awards given annually in the United Kingdom to promote and encourage standards of excellence in the writing of history for the general public. Prizes are given annually for two or three exceptional works ...

. American historian Ronald Spector, writing in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', praised Bullock's ability to write about the development of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

and

Soviet Communism The ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was Bolshevist Marxism–Leninism, an ideology of a centralised command economy with a vanguardist one-party state to realise the dictatorship of the proletariat. The Soviet Union ...

without either abstract generalization or irrelevant detail. "The writing is invariably interesting and informed and there are new insights and cogent analysis in every chapter," he wrote. Amikam Nachmani says Hitler and Stalin "come out as two blood-thirsty, pathologically evil, sanguine tyrants, who are sure of the presence of determinism, hence having unshakeable beliefs that Destiny assigned on them historical missions—the one to pursue a social industrialized revolution in the Soviet Union, the other to turn Germany into a global empire."

Honours

Bullock was decorated with the award of the Chevalier, Legion of Honour in 1970, and knighted in 1972, becoming Sir Alan Bullock and on 30 January 1976 he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Bullock, ''of Leafield in the County of Oxfordshire''. His writings always appeared under the name "Alan Bullock". In May 1976, Bullock was awarded an honorary degree from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

as Doctor of the University.

Death

Bullock died on 2 February 2004, in

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 Un ...

, England.

Early life and career

''Hitler: A Study in Tyranny''

Other works

Later works

Honours

Death

See also

References

Further reading

Primary sources