Sidney Aster
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Sidney Aster is a professor emeritus at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
Mississauga, Historical Studies Department, and a Fellow of the
Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...
.


Life

After graduating with a BA (History and Political Science) and MA (History) from
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
, Montreal, he moved to
London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. He completed his PhD in international history at the
London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...
. He lectured for a year at the
University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
, then returned to London to work as a freelance writer and historian. Among his assignments was to act as principal research assistant to Sir
Martin Gilbert Sir Martin John Gilbert (25 October 1936 – 3 February 2015) was a British historian and honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He was the author of 88 books, including works on Winston Churchill, the 20th century, and Jewish history inc ...
, who had succeeded
Randolph Churchill Major (rank), Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill (28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968) was an English journalist, writer and politician. The only son of future List of British Prime Ministers, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a ...
as the official biographer of
Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
. In the following years, Aster collaborated variously with V. V. Tilea, Romanian Minister to London, 1938-1940, Sir William Seeds, British Ambassador to Moscow, 1938-1941, and the British industrialist, A. P. Young, on the latter’s involvement with the German pre- and wartime resistance. For several years he also met weekly with
Arthur Salter, 1st Baron Salter James Arthur Salter, 1st Baron Salter, (15 March 1881 – 27 June 1975) was a British civil servant, politician, and academic who was a significant politician behind the concept of European political union, often in conjunction with his close f ...
to discuss the latter’s multi-faceted career as an international civil servant, MP, cabinet minister, journalist and author. At the same time, he published three books in four years: ''1939, The Making of the Second World War'', ''Anthony Eden: A Biography'', and ''The "X" Documents, The Secret History of Foreign Office Contacts with the German Resistance 1937-1939''. He also acted as a book reviewer for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
''. After a stay of 12 years in London, Aster returned to Canada in 1976 to take up a position with the Department of History, University of Toronto. His teaching interests ranged widely over the span of British history, 1485–present, Irish history from the beginnings to “the time of trouble,” the Welfare State, and diplomatic relations between the great powers. During this period, Aster continued to publish extensively on
appeasement Appeasement, in an International relations, international context, is a diplomacy, diplomatic negotiation policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power (international relations), power with intention t ...
and revisionism,
Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from ...
, and the origins of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He also contributed to a number of essay collections, encyclopaedias, research guides and articles for academic journals. His latest publications include ''Appeasement and All Souls: A Portrait with Documents, 1937-1939'', ''Dealing with Josef Stalin: The Moscow Blue Book, 1939'', and a biography titled ''Power, Policy and Personality: The Life and Times of Lord Salter, 1881–1975''.


References


External links


Inventory of the Papers of Sidney Aster, Mills Memorial Library, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aster, Sidney Academic staff of the University of Toronto Mississauga Living people Fellows of the Royal Historical Society McGill University alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Year of birth missing (living people)