John Roberts (historian) - Wikipedia John Roberts (historian) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search British historian For other people named John Roberts, see John Roberts (disambiguation). J. M. Roberts Born John Morris Roberts (1928-04-14)14 April 1928 Bath Died 30 May 2003(2003-05-30) (aged 75) Roadwater, Somerset Nationality British Alma mater University of Oxford (B.A.; M.A.; PhD) Occupation Historian, author, professor, TV presenter Known for World history John Morris Roberts CBE (14 April 1928 – 30 May 2003), often known as J. M. Roberts, was a British historian with significant published works. From 1979 to 1985 he was vice chancellor of the University of Southampton, and from 1985 to 1994, Warden of Merton College, Oxford. He was also well known as the author and presenter of the BBC TV series The Triumph of the West, first broadcast in 1985. Contents 1 Biography 2 Legacy 3 Personal life 4 Selected works 5 References 6 External links Biography[edit] Roberts was born in Bath,[1] the son of a department store worker[2] and educated at Taunton School. He won a scholarship to Keble College, Oxford, and took a first in Modern History in 1948.[3] After National Service, he was elected a prize fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, where he completed a doctoral thesis on the Italian republic set up during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1953 Roberts was elected a fellow and tutor in Modern History at Merton College, Oxford, and in the same year went as a Commonwealth Fund fellow to Princeton and Yale, where his interests broadened beyond European history. He returned to America three times as a visiting professor in the 1960s. In 1964 Roberts lectured for the British Council in India, and from 1966 to 1977 Roberts served as joint editor of the English Historical Review.[3] From 1979 to 1985 Roberts was vice-chancellor of the University of Southampton where he felt obliged to make unpopular cuts (Classics and Theology). Roberts could be an intimidating figure, even a "terrifying" one, but was described by colleagues as "a nice man, a very nice man, underneath it all".[3] Roberts did not hesitate to take on ambitious subjects, and in 1976 he published The History of the World, regularly updated in later years and still in print today.[4] The Times Literary Supplement described Roberts as "master of the broad brush-stroke", and in 1985 Roberts wrote and presented the thirteen-part BBC television series The Triumph of the West, a series which painted a broad canvas but avoided simplistic solutions, encouraging the audience to think and reach its own conclusions.[3] Later he served as historical advisor to the BBC series People's Century. Merton college, Front Quad From 1985 to 1994 Roberts was Warden of Merton College, Oxford. At Merton he became an important figure in the expansion and development of postgraduate studies.[3] He also took up other roles, serving as a governor of the BBC from 1988 to 93 and as a trustee of Rhodes House from 1988 to 94.[3] In 1994 he retired and returned to his native Somerset.[3] In 1996, Roberts was appointed CBE for his 'services to education and history' and made a Cavalier of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 1991.[5] Roberts died in 2003, at Roadwater, Somerset,[6] shortly after completing the fourth revised edition of his The New History of the World. Legacy[edit] The John Roberts Memorial Fund was established in his honour at Merton College in 2003, with the aim of increasing the financial support available to undergraduate and graduate students. The college hoped that the first recipient would be a history graduate. When Roberts' The Mythology of the Secret Societies was republished in 2008, the back cover contained the following message: "We are living at a time when conspiracy theories are rife and the notion of secret plans for world domination under the guise of religious cults or secret societies is perhaps considered more seriously than ever." Personal life[edit] On 10 September 1960, at Milton Abbas, Roberts married (Mariabella) Rosalind Gardiner. The marriage was dissolved in 1964. At Oxford on 29 August 1964 Roberts married Judith Cecilia Mary Armitage, a schoolteacher, and they had one son and two daughters.[3][7] Selected works[edit] Europe: 1880–1945 (London: Longmans, 1967. Second, corrected and revised edition, 1970. Third edition, 2000 ISBN 0582357454) The Mythology of the Secret Societies (1972; reprint edition, Watkins, 2008 ISBN 978-1-905857-44-9) History of the World (New York: Knopf, 1976). ISBN 0-394-49675-2 Revolution and Improvement: The Western World, 1775–1847 (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976). ISBN 0-297-77048-9 The French Revolution (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978). ISBN 0-19-289069-7 An Illustrated World History (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1980. 8 volumes) The Age of Upheaval: The World since 1914 (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1981). ISBN 0-14-064008-8 The Triumph of the West: The Origin, Rise, and Legacy of Western Civilization (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1985). ISBN 0-563-20070-7 A Short History of the World (1993). ISBN 0-1951-1504-X A History of Europe (New York: 1996). ISBN 0-7139-9204-2 The Age of Diverging Traditions (London: Time-Life, 1998). ISBN 0-7054-3660-8 The Age of Revolution (London: Time-Life, 1998). ISBN 0-7054-3690-X Eastern Asia and Classical Greece (London: Time-Life, 1998). ISBN 0-7054-3640-3 The Penguin History of the Twentieth Century (1999). ISBN 0-1402-7631-9 Twentieth Century: A History of the World From 1901 to the Present (London: Allen Lane, 1999). ISBN 0-7139-9257-3 The New History of the World (6th Edition, 2013 ISBN 0195219279) References[edit] ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20100831035654/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/j-m-roberts-548254.html ^ "The Daily Telegraph". Retrieved 26 May 2015. ^ a b c d e f g h Guardian Obituary Retrieved 13 July 2020 ^ The History of the World at Amazon.co.uk Retrieved 12 July 2020 ^ The Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1432378/J-M-Roberts.html. Missing or empty |title= (help) ^ Gildea, Robert (3 June 2003). "J. M. Roberts Influential historian with a taste for academic leadership". The Independent. Retrieved 16 February 2009. ^ Colin Lucas: Roberts, John Morris (1928–2003), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2007, online edn, Oct 2009, accessed 14 Aug 2013 External links[edit] Portrait of John Morris Roberts by Tai-Shan Schierenberg on the Art UK website Academic offices Preceded by Laurence Gower Vice Chancellor University of Southampton 1979–1985 Succeeded by Sir Gordon Higginson Preceded by Rex Richards Warden of Merton College, Oxford 1985–1994 Succeeded by Jessica Rawson Authority control BNE: XX826814 BNF: cb11922209d (data) CANTIC: a10349583 GND: 123429390 ICCU: IT\ICCU\TO0V\026889 ISNI: 0000 0001 0844 8430 LCCN: n50048896 NDL: 00454355 NKC: jn20000604667 NLA: 36189796 NLK: KAC199623171 NLP: A10943882 NTA: 068422830 PLWABN: 9810684366905606 SELIBR: 345943 SUDOC: 027103536 Trove: 1226384 VIAF: 69249642 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n50048896 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Roberts_(historian)&oldid=981767256" Categories: 1928 births 2003 deaths Theorists on Western civilization People educated at Taunton School Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Wardens of Merton College, Oxford Vice-Chancellors of the University of Southampton Alumni of Keble College, Oxford 20th-century British historians People from Bath, Somerset Hidden categories: CS1 errors: missing title CS1 errors: bare URL Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Use dmy dates from September 2020 Use British English from May 2012 Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ICCU identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLK identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLP identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages Afrikaans Español فارسی Edit links This page was last edited on 4 October 2020, at 09:46 (UTC). 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