Graham Macdonald Robb

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...

(born 2 June 1958,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

) is a British

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

specialising in

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than Fr ...

Biography

Born at

, Robb attended the

Royal Grammar School, Worcester The Royal Grammar School Worcester (also known as RGS Worcester or RGSW) is an eleven-eighteen mixed, independent day school and sixth form in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Founded before 1291, it is one of the oldest British independent d ...

, before going up to

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

to read

Modern Languages A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such ...

and graduating with

first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in 1981 ( BA (Oxon) proceeding MA). In 1982, Robb entered Goldsmiths' College, London to undertake

teacher training Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they require to perform their ...

, before pursuing postgraduate studies at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to t ...

where he received a PhD in

. He was then awarded a

junior research fellowship The JRF or JRF Junior Research Fellow is a letter awarded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to the candidates who qualify in the National Eligibility Test UGC NET or NTA-UGC-NET, is the examination for determining the eligibility ...

at Exeter College in the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

(1987–1990), before leaving academia. Robb won the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', the List of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; ...

Whitbread Best Biography Award for '' Victor Hugo'', and was shortlisted for the

Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its m ...

for ''

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he star ...

'' in 2001. ''Unlocking Mallarmé'' had won the

Modern Language Association The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "s ...

Prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

for Independent Scholars in 1996. All three of his

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

('' Victor Hugo'', ''

'' and '' Balzac'') became ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' "Best Books of the Year". ''

The Discovery of France ''The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography, from the Revolution to the First World War'' is a book by Graham Robb. It was published in September 2007 in the United Kingdom by Picador and in October 2007 in the United States by W. W. Norto ...

'' by Robb won the

Duff Cooper Prize The Duff Cooper Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of history, biography, political science or occasionally poetry, published in English or French. The prize was established in honour of Duff Cooper, a British diplomat, C ...

in 2007 and the RSL

Ondaatje Prize The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that evokes the "spirit of a place", and is written by someon ...

in 2008. In ''The Discovery of Middle Earth: Mapping the Lost World of the Celts'' (2013), he ventures that the ancient Celts organized their territories, determined the locations of settlements and battles, and set the trajectories of tribal migrations by establishing a network of solstice lines based on an extension of the Greek system of '' klimata''; as evidence he presented artistic geometries, road surveying, centuriations and other archaeologically attested pre-Roman alignments. Elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...

in 1998, Dr Robb was appointed a Chevalier of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose i ...

in 2009. Following the publication of his French translation of ''Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris'', he was awarded the

Medal of the City of Paris The Medal of the City of Paris (french: Médaille de la Ville de Paris) is a distinction created in 1911 and awarded by the mayor of Paris on the proposal of elected members of the Paris Council or associations. There are several levels: bronze, s ...

in 2012. He and fellow

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, Margaret Hambrick, married in 1986.International Who's Who (2004)
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Bibliography

* *''Baudelaire lecteur de Balzac'' (1988), *''Baudelaire'' (1989), , translation of 1987 French text by Prof. Claude Pichois *''La Poésie de Baudelaire et la poésie française, 1838–1852'' (1993), , criticism *''Balzac: A Biography'' (1994), *''Unlocking Mallarmé'' (1996), *''Victor Hugo'' (1997), *''Rimbaud'' (2000), *''Strangers: Homosexual Love in the 19th Century'' (2003), *''The Discovery of France. A Historical Geography from the Revolution to the First World War'' (2007), illustrated, 454 pp.

W. W. Norton W. W. Norton & Company is an American publishing company based in New York City. Established in 1923, it has been owned wholly by its employees since the early 1960s. The company is known for its Norton Anthologies (particularly ''The Norton An ...

*''Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris'' (2010),

*''The Ancient Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic Europe'', ; US title: ''The Discovery of Middle Earth: Mapping the Lost World of the Celts'', *''Cols and Passes of the British Isles'' (2016), *''The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England'' (2018), * '' France an adventure history'' (2022)

Book reviews

References

External links

* List of Dr Robb'
contributions
to

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

* List of Dr Robb'
contributions
to the

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

Celtic Paths, Illuminated by a Sundial : Graham Robb’s Theory on Celtic Migrations
Rachel Donadio, The New York Times, 18 November 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Robb, Graham 1958 births Living people English people of Scottish descent People educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Vanderbilt University alumni Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London English biographers Writers from Manchester Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Costa Book Award winners English non-fiction writers English literary historians Historians of French literature Historians of Paris Celtic studies scholars Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Biography

Bibliography

Book reviews

See also

References

External links