An Historian in the Twentieth Century: Chapters in Intellectual Autobiography. This item is unavailable.An Historian in the Twentieth Century: Chapters in Intellectual Autobiography

Max Beloff, one of Britain's most distinguished historians, here offers an eloquent account of the relationship between history and politics in the twentieth century as seen from the perspective of his own professional life.

Lord Beloff opens the book with an account of his own route to professional history and the reasons he became involved in different areas of historical specialization. He then reflects on the nature and purpose of historical studies in the light of current controversies on both sides of the Atlantic. Beloff discusses the contemporary problems and opportunities of the nations he has studied and traversed during his half-century as a working historian: Britain, France, the United States, Russia, and Israel. The last chapters deal with two major themes in Beloff's work that have formed a bridge between his scholarly contributions and his activity in politics―the quest for European unity and the collapse of the European empires that recently culminated in the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The book concludes with Beloff's provocative opinion that, based on his work on the fall of the British Empire, the end of European imperialism is a matter not for rejoicing but for regret.

Max Beloff was Gladstone Professor of Government and Public Administration and is now professor emeritus at Oxford University. In his long and varied career, he has taught or lectured on every continent, and he was the founder-principal of the University College at Buckingham (now the University of Buckingham). Max Beloff was created a Life Peer in 1981 and in the House of Lords has specialized in constitutional matters, foreign affairs, and higher education. Among his many books and articles are The Age of Absolutism, 1660-1815; The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia; Thomas Jefferson and American Democracy; Imperial Sunset; and The Government of the United Kingdom.