The Life of R. H. Tawney: Socialism and History

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Description

R. H. Tawney was the most influential theorist and exponent of socialism in Britain in the 20th century and also a leading historian. Based on papers deposited at the London School of Economics including a collection of personal material previously held by his family, this book provides the first detailed biography. Lawrence Goldman shows that to understand Tawney's work it is necessary to understand his life. This biography takes a broadly chronological approach, and uses this framework to examine major themes, including Tawney's political thought and historical writings. Tawney was the most representative of Labour's intellectuals as well as the most influential, and the contradictions he embodied are evident in the general history of British socialism.

Reviews

Although there have been earlier studies of Tawneys life and thought that were broadly biographical in structure, Lawrence Goldmans is the first to be based on a full examination of the surviving archives, including family papers hitherto closed to researchers. The resulting book is notably thorough, judicious and fair-minded. It is also and this is something that can be said of all too few biographies informed by a disciplined understanding of the main currents of the political, social and economic history that provided the setting for Tawneys work. And, to his great credit, Goldman is not inclined to exaggerate his subjects importance. -- Stefan Collini * Times Literary Supplement *
Stopping far short of uncritical hero worship, this admiring portrait of Tawney as educator, socialist, public servant and historian nonetheless does full justice to a remarkable man -- R. C. Richardson, emeritus professor of History, University of Winchester, UK * The Times Higher Education Supplement *
What emerges from Goldmans study is a more rounded and multidimensional picture of Tawney the man than any we have previously had. -- Noel Thompson, University of Swansea, UK * American Historical Review *
[Goldman] thoroughly researches Tawneys life, using new materials, and with fine discrimination analyses every aspect of his thought ... In a brilliant concluding assessment, Goldman agrees that [Tawney] was the most representative of Labours twentieth-century intellectuals. -- Paul Crook, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland * Australian Journal of Politics and History *
Goldman's careful scholarship and lucid prose are likely to ensure that this one becomes the definitive study. * English Historical Review *

Author Bio

Lawrence Goldman is a Fellow and Tutor in History at St. Peter's College, University of Oxford, UK and the Editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.