Hugh Trevor-Roper

Hugh Trevor-Roper
Rob Mieremet / Anefo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	Hugh Trevor-Roper
Caption	Trevor-Roper in 1975
Birth name	Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper
Birth date	15 January 1914
Birth place	Glanton, Northumberland, England
Death date	26 January 2003
Death place	Oxford, England
Education	Charterhouse School
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford (BA, MA)
Spouse	Lady Alexandra Haig, 1954, 2003
Fields	History of early modern Europe, Intellectual history
Workplaces	University of Oxford, University of Cambridge
Notable works	The Last Days of Hitler, The European Witch-Craze of the 16th and 17th Centuries
Awards	Wolfson History Prize (1972)

Hugh Trevor-Roper. Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper was a prominent and often controversial British historian of early modern Europe and Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Best known for his investigative work, The Last Days of Hitler, and his later, infamous authentication of the forged Hitler Diaries, his career was marked by brilliant scholarly insights and public controversies. A master of prose and a formidable polemicist, his work on topics from the English Civil War to the European witch-hunts shaped historical debate for decades.

Early life and education

Born in Glanton, Northumberland, he was the son of a doctor and educated at Charterhouse School before winning a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford. At Oxford, he read first Classics and then Modern History, graduating with first-class honours in 1936. His early intellectual formation was deeply influenced by the classical tradition and the rigorous historical methods then prevailing at Oxford, setting the stage for his future career. The outbreak of the Second World War would soon interrupt his academic path, leading him to work for the Secret Intelligence Service.

Academic career

After the war, his reputation was made by his work for British intelligence, which formed the basis of his book The Last Days of Hitler. In 1957, he was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, a position he held until 1980, succeeding his sometimes-rival A. J. P. Taylor. As Regius Professor, he was a dominant figure in the Oxford History Faculty, known for his stimulating, if demanding, tutorials and his opposition to Marxist historiography. In 1979, he accepted the post of Master of Peterhouse at the University of Cambridge, a tumultuous tenure that lasted until 1987.

Historical works and controversies

His historical scholarship ranged widely, with significant works including The Gentry 1540–1640, which ignited the fierce gentry controversy with R. H. Tawney and Lawrence Stone, and essays later collected in The European Witch-Craze of the 16th and 17th Centuries. He was a prolific essayist for publications like the New Statesman and the Sunday Times, and a noted critic of Arnold J. Toynbee's theories. His most public humiliation came in 1983 when he initially authenticated the Hitler Diaries for the Sunday Times, a judgment he was forced to retract swiftly after they were exposed as forgeries by Konrad Kujau.

Later life and death

After retiring from Peterhouse, he returned to Oxford and continued to write and publish, including a well-received biography of the physician Sir Thomas Bodley. He was made a life peer in 1979, taking the title Baron Dacre of Glanton. In his final years, he edited and wrote insightful essays on figures like Edward Gibbon and Hilaire Belloc. He died on 26 January 2003 in Oxford from cancer, and was survived by his wife, Lady Alexandra Haig, daughter of Field Marshal Earl Haig.

Legacy and influence

Trevor-Roper's legacy is complex, encompassing both dazzling historical prose and cautionary scholarly tales. He championed the study of intellectual history and the importance of style in historical writing, influencing a generation of scholars including John Elliott and Blair Worden. His essays on The Scottish Enlightenment and the General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century remain foundational. Despite the shadow of the Hitler Diaries affair, his rigorous critiques of historical fashion and his masterful narratives of the Third Reich and early modern Europe ensure his enduring place in modern historiography.

Category:English historians Category:20th-century historians Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Category:Regius Professors of Modern History