Christopher Hill - by Michael Braddick (Paperback)

About the Book

"A luminous biography of one of the twentieth century's most influential historians"--

Book Synopsis

A luminous biography of one of the last century's most influential historians

Christopher Hill was one of the leading historians of his generation. His work across more than fifteen books and dozens of articles fundamentally rewrote the way we understand the English Revolution and the development of the modern British state. While his career brought many of the trappings of establishment respectability -- he was both a Fellow of the British Academy and the Master of Balliol College, Oxford -- he was also seen as a threat to that very same establishment. Under surveillance by the security services for decades, in the 1980s Hill was publicly accused of having been a Soviet agent during the war. His was a Cold War life, as well as a scholarly one.

In this brilliant work of biography, Michael Braddick charts Hill's development from his abandonment of the respectable, provincial Methodism of his youth, through his embrace of Marxism, to his membership and eventual break with the Communist Party, as well as his celebrated intellectual career. While many of his books -- not least the thrilling work of historical resurrection The World Turned Upside Down and God's Englishman, his classic biography of Oliver Cromwell -- are still widely read and admired, his intellectual reputation was damaged by sustained academic criticism in the politically charged atmosphere of the 1980s.

Braddick's judicious biography not only situates Hill's life and work in their historical context but seeks to rescue Hill for a new generation of readers.

Review Quotes

"A fascinating portrait of a remarkable scholar. Works as both a judicious assessment of a major historian and a riveting tale of a don's life"
--Jonathan Healey, author of The Blazing World

"Braddick gives us for the first time the whole man, vividly recovering the personal and political concerns that informed Christopher Hill's historical writings"
--David Norbrook, author of Writing the English Republic

"A splendid biography. Even those who know Hill's work will learn a great deal. Braddick reveals Hill as a profound historical thinker and a vital voice in contemporary discussions of the English Revolution"
--John Rees, author of The Fiery Spirits

"Braddick has written a fine life of Christopher Hill - lucid, fair and scholarly."
--Tristram Hunt, Literary Review

"It is good to have this biography of one of the 20th century's greatest and most significant Marxist historians."
--Richard J Evans, New Statesman

"A very good place to revive the discussion of Hill's vision of the English Revolution, warts and all."
--John Rees, Counterfire

"As Braddick's book richly and scrupulously details, there haven't been many historians like Christopher Hill ... excellent."
--Marcus Nevitt, Spectator

"[Braddick] writes with rare lucidity and grace."
--Richard Davenport-Hines, Times Literary Supplement

"A welcome portrait of a still towering figure in British intellectual life."
--Aidan Beatty, Irish Times

"There is much to enjoy in this book ... [and] no shortage of colourful detail."
--Rhodri Lewis, Prospect

"Excellent ... Braddick's study suggests Hill may have had a bigger impact on the scholarly understanding of 17th-century Britain than anyone in the second half of the 20th century."
--Stefan Collini, London Review of Books

"Reading Braddick reminds us why Hill mattered - and still matters. In an era demanding historical perspectives on the recurring crises of capitalism, state power, and cultural hegemony, Hill's determination to understand the past as a means to shape a better future remains profoundly relevant....This solid, scholarly biography provides the essential map to that life and work."
--Ryan Breeden, Bullet

"Braddick's new book, Christopher Hill: The Life of a Radical Historian, offers the first full and comprehensive interpretation of his subject's life, work, and politics."
--Marcus Rediker and Peter Linebaugh, Nation

"Braddick's book is well-researched, readable, and thoughtful....it contains precisely the material we need to make sense of Hill's work."
--Raphael Magarik, Jacobin

About the Author

Michael Braddick is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, having previously worked at the University of Sheffield. He has held academic positions and visiting Fellowships in the United States, Australia, France, and Germany. He has written extensively on state formation, the English Revolution and political engagement and agency in early modern England, Ireland and the British Atlantic. His books include The Common Freedom of the People: John Lilburne and the English Revolution, God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars, and A Useful History of Britain: The Politics of Getting Things Done.