Denis Hugh Vercingetorix Brogan (20 March 1936 – 26 July 2019) known as Hugh Brogan, was a British

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

Early life

The son of Sir Denis Brogan and Olwen Phillis Francis (Lady Brogan), OBE, archaeologist and authority on

Roman Libya The area of North Africa which has been known as Libya since 1911 was under Roman domination between 146 BC and 672 AD (even if in the meantime it was taken by the Vandals in 430 AD, and then recaptured by the Byzantines). The Latin name ''Libya'' ...

, he was educated at St Faith's School,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, independent, day and boarding school in the English public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school whi ...

, and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, graduating BA in 1959 and MA in 1964.BROGAN, Prof. (Denis) Hugh (Vercingetorix)
in Who's Who 2007 online (accessed 22 October 2007) From his schooldays, he was a frequent correspondent of J.R.R. Tolkien regarding the latter's works. ''

The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien ''The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien'' is a selection of J. R. R. Tolkien's letters published in 1981, edited by Tolkien's biographer Humphrey Carpenter assisted by Christopher Tolkien. The selection from a large mass of materials contains 354 lett ...

'' published in 1981 includes five addressed to Brogan; these are dated 7 April 1948, Christmas 1948, 18 September 1954, 11 September 1955, and 14 December 1955. A draft of an unsent letter addressed to Brogan is also included.

Career

Brogan was on the staff of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'' from 1960 to 1963, and was elected a

Harkness Fellow The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several coun ...

in 1962, then was a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, from 1963 to 1974. He was then part of the department of history at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

from 1974 to 1998, first as a lecturer, then a reader, and finally as Professor of History from 1992 to 1998.

Major publications

* ''

Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (; 29 July 180516 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville (), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his work ...

'' (1973) * ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

Reports

The American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

'' (1975) * ''The Life of Arthur Ransome'' (1984) * ''The Longman History of the United States of America'' (1985, reprinted as '' The Penguin History of the United States of America'', 1990) * '' Mowgli's Sons:

Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...

and Baden-Powell's Scouts'' (1987) * ', (1991, with Anne P. Kerr) * ''American Presidential Families'' Charles_Mosley.html" ;"title="Charles Mosley (genealogist)">Charles Mosley">Charles Mosley (genealogist)">Charles Mosley(1993) * ''Kennedy'' (1996) * ''Signalling from Mars: the letters of Arthur Ransome'' (1997, ed.)

References

External links

*
Brogan's staff page at the University of Essex
* 1936 births 2019 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English historians Harkness Fellows People educated at St Faith's School People educated at Repton School Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Academics of the University of Essex English people of Scottish descent English people of Irish descent {{UK-historian-stub