Geoffrey Barraclough (10 May 1908, Bradford – 26 December 1984,

Burford Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeast of Che ...

) was an English historian, known as a medievalist and historian of Germany. He was educated at

Bootham School Bootham School is an independent 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 schoo ...

(1921–1924) in York and 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 ...

(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, 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 United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, Barraclough's sympathy for the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and public opposition to the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

of 1944 drew the criticism of George Orwell, among others. He was Professor of Medieval History,

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, 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-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, 1956–1962,

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

, 1965–1968, and Professor of History,

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...

, 1968–1970 and 1972–1981. He was

Chichele Professor of Modern History The Chichele Professorships are statutory professorships at the University of Oxford named in honour of Henry Chichele (also spelt Chicheley or Checheley, although the spelling of the academic position is consistently "Chichele"), an Archbishop of ...

, 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 An, AN, aN, or an may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Airlinair (IATA airline code AN) * Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy * AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey * Anime North, a Canadian a ...

'' (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 Norman Stone (8 March 1941 – 19 June 2019) was a British historian and author. He was Professor of European History in the Department of International Relations at Bilkent University, having formerly been a professor at the University of Oxf ...

, and later editions and atlases *''The Times History of the World'' (2001) with Richard Overy

Works

References

Further reading