Robin W. Winks (December 5, 1930 in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

– April 7, 2003 in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

) was an American academic,

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 ...

, diplomat, writer on the subject of fiction, especially

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

s, and advocate for the National Parks. After joining the faculty of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1957, he rose in 1996-1999 to become the Randolph Townsend Professor of History and Master of

Berkeley College Berkeley College is a private for-profit college with campuses in New York, New Jersey, and online. It was founded in 1931 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificate programs. Berkeley College is accredited by the Middle ...

. At

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

he served as George Eastman Professor in 1992-3, and as Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History in 1999-2000.

Background

Born in Indiana in 1930, Winks graduated magna cum laude and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

in 1952. As a Fulbright Scholar in New Zealand he earned a master's degree in Maori studies from Victoria University before returning to the University of Colorado to earn a second master's degree in ethnography. He then earned a Ph.D. from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

in 1957 with a dissertation on Canadian and American relations. After a year of teaching at Connecticut College, he joined the faculty at Yale in 1957, where he remained for the rest of his career. He held visiting lectureships and conducted research at universities around the nation and the world, including at Sydney University in 1963 where he lectured memorably on American History, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the Middle East. He was on leave 1969-71 to serve as U.S. Cultural Attache to the American Embassy in London, and was a regular adviser to various governmental agencies. Winks was a Fellow of the

Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

, the Society of American Historians, 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 ...

, the

Royal Commonwealth Society The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) is a non-governmental organisation with a mission to promote the value of the Commonwealth and the values upon which it is based. The Society upholds the values of the Commonwealth Charter, promoting conf ...

, and a member of both the Athenaeum Club and

Special Forces Club The Special Forces Club (SFC) is a private members' club located at 8 Herbert Crescent in Knightsbridge, London. Initially established in 1945 for former personnel of the Special Operations Executive, members of wartime resistance organisations, ...

. He was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

, a Smith-Mundt Fellow, a

Stimson Grant winner Stimson may refer to: * Charles Stimson (born 1963), American Pentagon official * Frederic Jesup Stimson (1855–1943), American diplomat * Gerry Stimson, British public health social scientist * Henry L. Stimson (1867–1950), American statesma ...

. In 1989 he won the

Donner Medal Donner may refer to: Places * Donner (crater), a lunar crater * Mount Donner, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada * Donner, California, an unincorporated community near Donner Pass, United States * Donner Lake, in California * Donner M ...

from the

Association for Canadian Studies in the United States Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

. Winks held offices and committee chairmanships in the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

, the

Canadian Historical Association The Canadian Historical Association (CHA; French ''Société historique du Canada'', SHC) is a Canadian organization founded in 1922 for the purposes of promoting historical research and scholarship. It is a bilingual, not-for-profit, charitable o ...

, the Organization of American Historians et al. He was honored with a Doctor of Humane Letters from the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

and from the

. Winks died in 2003 in

National Parks

Winks was a lover of the outdoors and spent much of his career advocating for the protection of open spaces. He served as chair of the National Parks System Advisory Board, and in 1988, was awarded the Department of the Interior’s Conservationist of the Year Award. In 1998, he became the first person to have visited all of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

units (there were 376 at that time). In 1999, the

National Parks Conservation Association The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is the only independent, nonpartisan membership organization devoted exclusively to advocacy on behalf of the National Parks System. Its mission is "to protect and enhance America's National Pa ...

honored him with its first award for contributions to public education on behalf of the national parks. They subsequently established the honor as an annual award named the

Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') ** Bush-robin **Forest r ...

Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Robin Winks, OCLC/

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

encompasses roughly 180 works in 460 publications in six languages and 24,000+ library holdings.WorldCat IdentitiesWinks, Robin W.
/ref> * ''Recent Trends and New Literature in Canadian History''; five editions published between 1959 and 1967 in English * ''Canada and the United States: The Civil War Years'' (McGill-Queen's Press, 1960); six editions published between 1960 and 1998 in Englis

* ''British Imperialism: Gold, God, Glory''; five editions published between 1963 and 1973 in Englis
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* ''The Historiography of the British Empire–Commonwealth: Trends, Interpretations and Resources;'' two editions published in 1966 in English * ''Malaysia: Selected Historical Readings'' (with John Bastin) (Oxford University Press, 1966
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* ''The Age of Imperialism'' (Prentice-Hall, 1969); two editions published in 1969 in Englis

* ''The Historian as Detective: Essays on Evidence'' (New York: Harper & Row, 1969); published in 1969 in Englis
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* ''Pastmasters: Some Essays on American Historians'' (with

Marcus Cunliffe Marcus Falkner Cunliffe (1922–1990) was a British scholar who specialized in cultural and military American Studies. He was particularly interested in comparing how Europeans viewed Americans and how Americans viewed Europeans.It was in the US ...

) (New York: Harper & Row, 1969
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* ''The Myth of the American Frontier: Its Relevance to America, Canada and Australia'' (Leicester University Press, 1971
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* '' The Blacks in Canada: A History'' (McGill-Queen's Press, 1971); 12 editions published between 1971 and 2004 in Englis
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* ''Slavery: a Comparative Perspective; Readings on Slavery from Ancient Times to the Present''; published in 1972 in English * ''An American's Guide to Britain''; five editions published between 1977 and 1987 in English * ''Other Voices, Other Views: An International Collection of Essays from the Bicentennial'' (Greenwood Press, 1978
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* ''The Relevance of Canadian History: U.S. and Imperial perspectives ' (Macmillan of Canada: 1979
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* ''The American Identity: Fusion and Fragmentation'' (ed. Robin W. Winks,

Sacvan Bercovitch Sacvan Bercovitch (October 4, 1933 – December 8, 2014) was a Canadian literary and cultural critic who spent most of his life teaching and writing in the United States. During an academic career spanning five decades, he was considered to be one ...

, and Rob Kroes) (University of Amsterdam, 1980
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* ''Detective Fiction: A Collection of Critical Essays'' (Prentice-Hall, 1980); four editions published between 1980 and 1988 in Englis
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* ''Modus Operandi: An Excursion into Detective Fiction (Boston: D.R. Godine, 1981); three editions published between 1981 and 1990 in Englis
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* ''Colloquium on Crime: Eleven Renowned Mystery Writers Discuss their Work''; published in 1986 in Englis
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* ''The Lily and the Lion: Royal France, Great Britain'' (with

Philip Mansel Philip Mansel (born 1951) is a historian of courts and cities, and the author of a number of books about the history of France and the Ottoman Empire. He was born in London in 1951 and educated at Eton College, Balliol College, Oxford, and obtain ...

) (Boston Publishing Company, 1987
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* ''Cloak & Gown: Scholars in the Secret War, 1939–1961'' (

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

: 1987); eight editions published between 1987 and 1996 in Englis
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* ''A History of Civilization'' (Prentice-Hall, 1988
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* ''Asia in Western Fiction'' (with James R. Rush) (University of Hawaii Press, 1990
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* ''Frederick Billings: A Life'' (Oxford University Press, 1991); three editions published between 1991 and 1998 in English and Undetermine

* ''Asia in Western Fiction'' (with James R. Rush); six editions published between 1989 and 1990 in English * ''The Historiography of the British Empire-Commonwealth: Trends, Interpretations, and Resources'' (Aldershot: Gregg Revivals, 1995
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* ''Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst for Conservation;'' four editions published in 1997 in English * ''Mystery and Suspense Writers: the Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage'' (New York: Scribner's Sons, 1998); two editions published in 1998 in English and held by 1,175 libraries worldwid
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* ''Europe, Crisis and Conflict: 1890–1945'' (with R.J.Q. Adams) (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2003) * ''The Ancient Mediterranean World: From the Stone Age to A.D. 600'' (with Susan P. Mattern) (Oxford University Press, 2004

* ''Europe, 1648-1815: From the Old Regime to the Age of Revolution'' (with Thomas E. Kaiser) (Oxford University Press, 2004

* ''Medieval Europe and the World: From Late Antiquity to Modernity, 400-1500'' (with Teofilo F. Ruiz) (Oxford University Press, 2005

* ''Europe and the Making of Modernity: 1815-1914'' (with Joan Neuberger) (Oxford University Press, 2005

Notes

References

* Adrian, Jack
"Professor Robin Winks; Historian of unusually varied interests,"
''The Independent'' (London). April 12, 2003. * Edmonds, Douglas
"Robin Winks: An Appreciation,"
''American Review of Canadian Studies,'' Vol. 34, 2004. * Lewis, Paul

''New York Times.'' April 10, 2003. * Reinstein, Gila
"In Memoriam: Robin Winks,"
''Yale Bulletin & Calendar'' (University Office of Public Affairs). April 8, 2003. * Winks, Robin W. (1996). ''Cloak & Gown: Scholars in the Secret War, 1939–1961.'' New Haven:

. ;

Archival records

* C. Vann Woodward papers, 1804–2000. Yale University * Robin William Winks papers, 1950–2001. Yale University * Records of the Bicentennial Committee for International Conferences of Americanists, 1973–1977 by Bicentennial Committee for International Conferences of Americanists. * Records of the United States Bicentennial Committee, Yale University, 1970–1977. Yale University

External links

New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
* Fulbright New Zealand
Robin W. and Avril Flockton Winks Award
''2009 Grantees Booklet,'' p. 10. *Robin Winks papers (MS 336). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Librar

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winks, Robin W. 1930 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Historians of Canada Historians of Australia Johns Hopkins University alumni Yale University faculty Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professors of American History Historians from Indiana 20th-century American male writers