David Henry Fromkin (August 27, 1932 June 11, 2017) was an American historian, best known for his interpretive account of the Middle East, ''
A Peace to End All Peace
''A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East'' (also subtitled ''Creating the Modern Middle East, 1914–1922'') is a 1989 history book written by Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction fina ...
'' (1989), in which he recounts the role European powers played between 1914 and 1922 in creating the modern Middle East. The book was a finalist for both the
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English". and the
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...
. Fromkin wrote seven books, ending in 2007 with ''The King and the Cowboy: Theodore Roosevelt and Edward the Seventh, Secret Partners''.
Life
Fromkin was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 27, 1932.
He died on June 11, 2017 in New York City due to heart failure; he was 84.
Career
A graduate of the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
and the
University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dis ...
, he was Professor Emeritus of History and
International Relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such ...
, and Law at the
Pardee School of Global Studies
The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University (also referred to as The Pardee School and Pardee School of Global Studies) is Boston University's newest school and was officially established in 2015 by consolidating and re ...
at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...
, where he was also the Director of The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Long-Range Future.
Before his career as a historian, Fromkin was an attorney and political adviser. In the 1972 Democratic
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
...
campaign, he served as a foreign-policy adviser to candidate
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing ...
. As an attorney, he served as both prosecutor and defense counsel in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps.
He retired as professor emeritus in 2013.
Assessment
Discussing Fromkin's book ''Kosovo Crossing: The Reality of American Intervention in the Balkans'',
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...
stated that Fromkin "asserts without argument that the U.S. and its allies acted out of 'altruism' and 'moral fervor' alone" in bombing Yugoslavia during the
Kosovo war
The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...
.
Criticism
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...
criticized Fromkin for his portrayal of the US-backed NATO intervention in the
Kosovo War
The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...
.
Selected bibliography
*'' A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East, 1914–1922'' (1989) , (paperback)
*“Britain, France, and the Diplomatic Agreements.” In ''The Creation of Iraq, 1914–1921'', ed. Reeva Spector Simon and Eleanor H. Tejirian, 134–145. New York: Columbia University press, 2004.
*''Europe's Last Summer: Who started the Great War in 1914?'' (2004) , (paperback)
*''Kosovo Crossing: The Reality of American Intervention in the Balkans'', New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. (2002) ,
*''In the Time of the Americans: FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Marshall, MacArthur, The Generation That Changed America's Role in the World'' (1995) , (paperback)
*''The Independence of Nations'' (1981)
*''The Importance of T. E. Lawrence.'' From The New Criterion Vol. 10, No. 1, September 1991.
*''The Question of Government: An Inquiry into the Breakdown of Modern Political Systems'' (1975)
*"''The King and the Cowboy: Theodore Roosevelt and Edward the Seventh, Secret Partners"'' (2007)
*''The Way of the World'' (1998)