Michael John Bentley (born 12 August 1948)'BENTLEY, Michael (John) 1948-'
''encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved 11 October 2021. is an English

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 st ...

of British politics in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of Modern History at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Early life and career

Bentley was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in 1948, the son of Peter and Jessie Bentley. He attended the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

, graduating with a BA in History in 1969, before proceeding to postgraduate study at St John's College, Cambridge. From 1977 to 1995 Bentley taught history at Sheffield. He then moved to the University of St Andrews, where he was appointed Professor of Modern History; he is now Emeritus. As of 2021, he is Senior Research Fellow and Stipendiary Lecturer in History at St Hugh's College, Oxford. In 2011 he was made a fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

Critical reaction

Boyd Hilton Andrew John Boyd Hilton, FBA (born 1944) is a British historian and a professor and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He specialises in modern British history, from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Hilton was educated at Willi ...

has called Bentley's ''Politics Without Democracy 1815–1914'' "a wonderfully 'inside' account of life at the top", whilst K. Theodore Hoppen claims the book "provides an interesting (if allusive) study of attitudes".

Personal life

Bentley is married to the historian

Sarah Foot Sarah Rosamund Irvine Foot (born 23 February 1961) is an English Anglican priest and early medieval historian, currently serving as Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Oxford. Early life and education Foot was bor ...

Works

*''The Liberal Mind, 1914–1929'' (1977) *''High and Low Politics in Modern Britain: Ten Studies'' (edited, with John Stevenson; 1983). *''Politics Without Democracy, 1815–1914'' (1984, 1996) *''The Climax of Liberal Politics'' (1987) *''Companion to Historiography'' (1997) *''Modern Historiography: An Introduction'' (1998) *''Lord Salisbury's World'' (2001) *''Modernizing England's Past: English Historiography in the Age of Modernism, 1870–1970 (The Wiles Lectures)'' (2006) *''The Life and Thought of Herbert Butterfield: History, Science and God'' (2011)

Early life and career

Critical reaction

Personal life

Works

References

Further reading