Raymond Carr: The Curiosity of the Fox (LSE Studies in Spanish History) - Hardcover

María Jesús González

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845195353 ISBN 13: 9781845195359

Publisher: Liverpool University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Raymond Carr pioneered a new way of looking at modern Spanish history, releasing Spaniards form the shackles of Romantic myth and allowing them to see their nation as a country like any other, rather than one set apart from the rest of Europe. Born in humble circumstances, he journeyed through a fascinating period in twentieth-century British history, vaulting the class barriers that were still very much in place in the England of his day and turning himself into an interested and acutely observant member of the exclusive and decadent world of the late aristocracy, even becoming a keen huntsman. Familiar with the intricate and secret highways and byways of Oxford, both as an undergraduate at Christ Church and, later, as a Fellow of All Souls and of New College, he eventually became Warden of St Antony's. Throughout his Oxford life, he met and befriended some of the most important, eccentric, and charismatic intellectual figures of the entire twentieth century. But he was also on first-name terms with aristocrats, prime ministers, artists, spies, the foremost U.S. players in the Cold War, and military leaders in Francoist Spain. This biography tells a story that is in some ways stranger than fiction. By tracing the various facets of Raymond Carr's life and personality -- as intellectual, traveller, social chameleon, academic mover and shaker, lover of politics, and unrepentant enquirer into anything and everything to do with life and human history -- the author builds a masterly picture of the society into which he was born, the politics and culture of a England that is now lost to us, and the work of one of England's major Hispanists. Published in association with the Canada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies.

About this title

Review:

"Raymond Carr is a very important and also attractive figure in British academic life and nobody could have written a better biography than this one. This book not only brings an unusually interesting person to life, but fills a large gap in the literature - the profound links between British academia, historical writing and our understanding of Spain." --Professor Eric Hobsbawm

"This is a very enjoyable book. Maria Jesus Gonzalez's account of Raymond Carr's life is fascinating, as is her discussion of his contribution to the study of the history of Spain. The research and documentation provided in this volume is scholarly and outstanding." --Sir John Elliott

Raymond Carr is a very important and also attractive figure in British academic life and nobody could have written a better biography than this one. This book not only brings an unusually interesting person to life, but fills a large gap in the literature the profound links between British academia, historical writing and our understanding of Spain. Professor Eric Hobsbawm"

This is a very enjoyable book. Maria Jesus Gonzalez s account of Raymond Carr s life is fascinating, as is her discussion of his contribution to the study of the history of Spain. The research and documentation provided in this volume is scholarly and outstanding. Sir John Elliott"

Carr is a great iconoclast. I greatly enjoyed his biography by Maria Jesus Gonzalez. Sir John Elliott, "El Pais""

Carr s achievement was to write even-handedly about Spain when General Franco made history hard for Spaniards and to inspire other British historians to do the same. Gonzalez returns a rigorously sourced compliment. "Times Literary Supplement""

Maria Gonzalez won her biographical spurs with a study of Antonio Maura, Spain s great Conservative Prime Minister of the early twentieth century. She has now come up with a biography of Raymond Carr which quickly turns into something both more ambitious and fascinating: a full length life of the historian and his intellectual and high society milieux, over a large part of the twentieth century. . . The author s assiduity is reflected in her extensive bibliography of works on twentieth-century British socio-political history, written records from mostly personal archives, and interviews with some eighty people connected with one or another aspect of Carr s world. Hardly a fact or assertion goes by without its being sourced in the endnotes. Ronald Fraser, "Times Literary Supplement""

It is a long book but it sustains the interest of the reader throughout ( ) The author brings to life Raymond s insatiable curiosity for all aspects of Spanish life, history and culture, his encyclopaedic knowledge of so many aspects of that country, his ability to talk with persons from aristocrats to peasants, and from all parts of the political spectrum. ( ) This book is about the Raymond I knew. His zest for life, his complete lack of pomposity, his breath of intellectual knowledge, his sense of fun, his dedication to his students and his unending fascination with Spain all feature prominently in this excellent book. But it is more than just about Raymond. It is a portrait of intellectual life in Oxford especially in the years after the Second World War, it is a book about how historians approach their subject, and it tells the story of the foundation of the college and the crucial role that Raymond paid. Alan Angell, "St Antony s Newsletter""

"Carr is a great iconoclast. I greatly enjoyed his biography by Maria Jesus Gonzalez." -- Sir John Elliott, El Pais

"Carr's achievement was to write even-handedly about Spain when General Franco made history hard for Spaniards -- and to inspire other British historians to do the same. Gonzalez returns a rigorously sourced compliment." --Times Literary Supplement

About the Author:

Maria Jesus Gonzalez teaches Modern History at the University of Cantabria. An expert in the political history of the reign of Alfonso XIII, she is the author of Ciudadania y Accion: El conservadurismo maurista 1907-1923 (1990) and El universo conservador de Antonio Maura: Biografia y proyecto de Estado (1997), which was short-listed for the 1998 Spanish National Essay Prize. She has recently been working on various aspects of twentieth-century British politics and culture.

About this edition

• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1845195353
• ISBN 13: 9781845195359
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 520