Christopher Hill: The Life of a Radical Historian

Born in 1912, Christopher Hill was one of the foremost historians of his generation. Abandoning the respectable provincial Methodism of his youth, Hill embraced Marxism and pursued a celebrated intellectual career. His early enthusiasm as a member of the Communist Party eventually gave way to disillusionment with its doctrinaire practices. Hill embodied the conflicts and challenges of the postwar decades. Michael Braddick's astute biography situates Hill's life and work in the proper historical context, bringing him alive for twenty-first-century readers.

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.

Review :
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 Braddick gives us for the first time the whole man, vividly recovering the personal and political concerns that informed Christopher Hill's historical writings 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 Braddick has written a fine life of Christopher Hill - lucid, fair and scholarly. It is good to have this biography of one of the 20th century's greatest and most significant Marxist historians. A very good place to revive the discussion of Hill's vision of the English Revolution, warts and all. As Braddick's book richly and scrupulously details, there haven't been many historians like Christopher Hill ... excellent. [Braddick] writes with rare lucidity and grace. A welcome portrait of a still towering figure in British intellectual life. There is much to enjoy in this book ... [and] no shortage of colourful detail. 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. 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. 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. Braddick's book is well-researched, readable, and thoughtful....it contains precisely the material we need to make sense of Hill's work.