Hugh Swynnerton Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton (21 October 1931 – 7 May 2017) was 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 species; as well as the ...

and writer, best known for his book '' The Spanish Civil War''.

Early life

Thomas was born on 21 October 1931 in Windsor, England, to Hugh Whitelegge Thomas (1887-1960), a colonial commissioner and Cambridge cricketer, and his wife Margery Augusta Angelo, ''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Swynnerton. Sir Shenton Thomas was his uncle. He was educated at

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, before going up to Queens' College, Cambridge, where he was a major scholar and later an Honorary Fellow. Thomas gained a first class in Part I of the History

Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

in 1952, and the following year was president of the Cambridge Union Society. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Career

From 1954 to 1957, Thomas worked in the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

partly as secretary of the British Delegation to the sub-committee of the UN Disarmament Commission. From 1966 to 1975, he was Professor of History at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

, and chairman of the European committee. He was then chairman of the neoliberal

Centre for Policy Studies The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a centre-right think tanks, think tank and advocacy group in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote coherent and practical policies based on its founding principles of: free markets, "small state," lo ...

in London from 1979 to 1991.

Politics

Until 1974, Thomas was a member of the Labour Party. He was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Thomas of Swynnerton, ''of

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

'' by

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

dated 16 June 1981, and sat as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

, before he joined the Liberal Democrats in late 1997. He later sat as a crossbencher. He wrote political works favouring European integration, such as ''Europe: the Radical Challenge'' (1973), as well as histories. He was also the author of three novels: ''The World's Game'' (1957), ''The Oxygen Age'' (1958), and ''Klara'' (1988). Thomas's 1961 book '' The Spanish Civil War'' won the Somerset Maugham Award for 1962. A significantly revised and enlarged third edition was published in 1977; further editions were published in 1999 and 2012. ''

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, or the Pursuit of Freedom'' (1971) is a book of over 1,500 pages tracing the history of Cuba from Spanish colonial rule until the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

. In 1985, he signed a petition against the

Sandinista National Liberation Front The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, in support of the Contras, an anti-Sandinista paramilitary group. In 1990 he was one of the leading historians behind the setting up of the History Curriculum Association. The Association advocated a more knowledge-based history curriculum in schools. It expressed "profound disquiet" at the way history was being taught in the classroom and observed that the integrity of history was threatened.

Personal life

Thomas was married to Hon. Vanessa Jebb, a

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and daughter of Gladwyn Jebb, the first Acting

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

and British Ambassador to France. They had three children: Inigo, Isambard and Isabella.

Awards

Thomas won the Somerset Maugham Award (1962), the Nonino Prize (2009), the Boccaccio Prize (2009), the Gabarrón Prize (2008) and the Calvo Serer Prize (2009). The

French Government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

appointed him

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2008. Thomas also received the

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Gran ...

of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic from Spain, as well as the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, the Joaquín Romero Murube Prize in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

(2013) and the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise (2014).

Works

* ''Disarmament – The Way Ahead''

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

(1957). * '' The Spanish Civil War'' (1961);

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

Ltd (1968); 2nd revised edition (1977); 4th revised edition (2003). A new revised edition in 2011''The Spanish Civil War'': Revised Edition (Modern Library Paperbacks),

Modern Library The Modern Library is an American book publishing Imprint (trade name), imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Moder ...

, commemorated the book's reaching 50 consecutive years in print; it was published in 15 languages. * ''Cuba or the Pursuit of Freedom'' (1971); revised editions (1998), (2002), (2010). * ''Europe: The Radical Challenge'' (1973). * '' John Strachey'' (1973). * ''An Unfinished History of the World'' (1979); published in the United States as ''A History of the World'', then as ''World History'' (1998); and under the original title in London (by

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited is a publishing imprint and originally a British publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half- Scot half- American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''Jame ...

) in 1979, and with revised editions in 1981 and 1982. * ''The Revolution On Balance'' (1983), Washington, DC; Cuban American National Foundation 1983 (CANF pamphlet #5)
online
* ''Armed Truce'' (1986). A history of the beginning of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

online
* ''Ever Closer Union'' (1991). * '' The Conquest of Mexico'' (1993); published in the United States as ''Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés and the Fall of Old Mexico''. * ''The Slave Trade: The History of the

Atlantic Slave Trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

1440–1870'' (1997);

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. * ''Who Is Who of the

Conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

'' (2000). A study of those who fought for Cortés. * ''Rivers of Gold'' (2003); the first book in a trilogy about the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

. * '' Beaumarchais in

'' (2006); . * ''Eduardo Barreiros and the Recovery of Spain'' (2009); a biography of Eduardo Barreiros. * ''The Golden Age: The Spanish Empire of Charles V'' (2010); the second book in a trilogy about the Spanish Empire. Published in the United States as ''The Golden Empire: Spain, Charles V, and the Creation of America'' (2011). * ''The World's Game''; a novel (1957). * ''The Oxygen Age''; a novel (1958). * ''Klara'', a novel (1988). * ''The

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

Affair'' (1966); an analysis of the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

of 1956. * ''World Without End: The Global Empire of Philip II'' (2014); the third volume in a trilogy about the Spanish Empire.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Hugh 1931 births 2017 deaths People from Windsor, Berkshire People educated at Sherborne School British historians British Hispanists University of Paris alumni Crossbench life peers Presidents of the Cambridge Union Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Historians of Spain Recipients of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) life peers Historians of the Spanish Civil War Life peers created by Elizabeth II