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Robert Tombs

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Robert Tombs
Tombs in 2016
Born (1949-05-08) 8 May 1949 (age 75)
EducationTrinity Hall, Cambridge, University of Cambridge
Occupation(s)Historian, academic
EmployerSt John's College, Cambridge
SpouseIsabelle Tombs (née Bussy)

Robert P. Tombs (born 8 May 1949)[1] is a British historian of France, and is professor emeritus of French history at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge.[2] Prior to this, he was a reader in the subject until 2007.[3]

Academic career

Tombs's specialty is 19th-century France, particularly the Paris Commune. His work focused on the political culture of the working classes, and led him to revise a number of myths associated with the history of the Paris Commune. His first book The War Against Paris, 1871 analysed the role of the French Army in the suppression of the Paris Commune.[4][5]

In 2006, along with his wife, Tombs wrote That Sweet Enemy: The French and the British from the Sun King to the Present, a history of the relationship between Britain and France.[6][7][8] In 2014, Tombs published The English and Their History, which was widely reviewed by the popular press.[9][10][11][12][13]

Tombs's retirement was announced in August 2016,[14] after which he became professor emeritus.[15]

History Reclaimed

Tombs is the editor of History Reclaimed,[16] a website created by a "group of anti-woke scholars" including Nigel Biggar, Zareer Masani, and Andrew Roberts, among others.[17] The website describes itself as "an independent and non-partisan academic organisation ... composed of historians ... dedicated to historical research to expand knowledge and understanding about the fundamental changes surrounding our country."[18]

Personal life

Tombs is co-editor of Briefings for Brexit, a consortium of academics and educators who support Brexit,[19] and has written columns for newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph,[20] The Spectator,[21] and The Times.[22] In the 1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, Tombs voted in support of membership.[23]

His wife Isabelle Tombs (née Bussy) was born in France, and is in charge of French training at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.[6]

In November 2021, Tombs expressed strong support for the retention of the English Wikipedia article "Mass killings under communist regimes", then facing the prospect of deletion on neutrality and original research grounds. Tombs wrote that "attempts to remove it can only be ideologically motivated – to whitewash Communism."[24]

Major books and articles

  • — The War Against Paris, 1871 (1981). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 256 pp.
  • — with Bury, J. P. T. (1986). Thiers 1797–1877: A Political Life. London: Allen & Unwin. 307 pp.
  • — ed. (1991). Nationhood and Nationalism in France: From Boulangism to the Great War 1889–1918. London: Harper Collins. 286 pp.
  • — France 1814–1914 (1996). London: Longman. 590 pp.
  • — The Paris Commune, 1871 (1999). London: Longman. 244 pp.
  • — Cross-Channel Currents: 100 Years of the Entente Cordiale (2004). London: Routledge.
  • — with Tombs, Isabelle (2006). That Sweet Enemy: The French and the British from the Sun King to the Present. London: W. Heinemann. 780 pp.
  • — with Chabal, Emile (2013). Britain and France in Two World Wars: Truth, Myth and Memory. London: Bloomsbury.
  • — Paris, bivouac des révolutions. La Commune de 1871 [Paris, Bivouac of Revolutions. The Commune of 1871] (2014). Paris: Libertalia (in French).
  • — The English and Their History: The First Thirteen Centuries (2014). London: Penguin. 875 pp.
  • — This Sovereign Isle (2020). London: Allen Lane. 224 pp.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Tombs, Robert P. 1949". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Robert Tombs". Department of History, University of Cambridge. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Appointments, reappointment, and grant of title". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  4. ^ Howard, Michael (1 January 1983). "Review of Books". The English Historical Review. XCVIII (CCCLXXXVI). Cambridge University Press: 164–165. doi:10.1093/ehr/XCVIII.CCCLXXXVI.164.
  5. ^ McNeill, W. H. (September 1983). "Review of Books". The Journal of Modern History. Chicago University Press: 549–551. JSTOR 1878622.
  6. ^ a b Jeffries, Stuart (25 March 2006). "Plus ça change". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  7. ^ Thorpe, Adam (18 March 2006). "The old misalliance". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  8. ^ Martin, Andy (24 March 2006). "That Sweet Enemy: the French and the British from the Sun King to the Present, by Robert & Isabelle Tombs". The Independent. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  9. ^ "A once and future realm". The Economist. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  10. ^ Davenport-Hines, Richard (17 November 2014). "The English and Their History review – 'a book of resounding importance to contemporary debates'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  11. ^ McKay, Sinclair (16 December 2014). "The English and their History by Robert Tombs, review: 'brilliance and sly wit'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  12. ^ Frum, David (28 December 2015). "The Misunderstood Past (and Uncertain Future) of England". The Atlantic. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  13. ^ Hitcens, Peter (31 December 2015). "'The English and Their History,' by Robert Tombs". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  14. ^ Tombs, Robert (August 2016), "Retirements", History Faculty Newsletter, vol. 7, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge.
  15. ^ O'Tool, Fintan (30 January 2021). "The Sovereign Isle by Robert Tombs review – is this the best case for Brexit?". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  16. ^ "Why We Are Reclaiming History". History Reclaimed. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  17. ^ Somerville, Ewan (18 September 2021). "University of Exeter professors ready to rebel over request to use tweets not textbooks". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  18. ^ English, Otto (7 September 2021). "Fake History: The New Brexiter Great Crusade". Byline Times. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  19. ^ "Brexit Briefings: Pro-leave Cambridge professor Robert Tombs on UK identities". Mainichi Shimbun. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  20. ^ "Robert Tombs". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  21. ^ "Robert Tombs". The Spectator. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  22. ^ Tombs, Robert (30 August 2021). "We must not let new 'narratives' smear our history". The Times. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  23. ^ Mount, Ferdinand (27 January 2021). "Englishness and the fragile future of the union". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  24. ^ Simpson, Craig (27 November 2021). "Wikipedia may delete entry on 'mass killings' under Communism due to claims of bias". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.

Further reading

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