English Pasts

In this collection of engaging and readable essays, Stefan Collini shows how much can be gained from bringing a rigorous historical perspective to some of the most contentious issues in contemporary culture. Whether he is asking what it means to inhabit and possess a `national past', or reflecting on the role of the historian as social critic, whether he is scrutinizing the claims of Cultural Studies or challenging the assumptions about academic research whether he is pondering the future of literary biography or reassessing some of the leading minds in modern British culture, Collini writes with a rare blend of sympathy, sharpness, and wit. Explicitly addressed to the `non-specialist', these essays attempt to make some of the fruits of detailed scholarly research in various fields available to a wider audience. The book will interest (and delight) readers interested in history, literature, and contemporary cultural debate. This book is intended for readers interested in history literature and contemporary culture; scholars and students in History, English, Politics and Cultural Studies.Table of ContentPart I Histories: writing "the National History" - Trevelyan and after; French contrasts - from the Pantheon to poets' corner; idealizing England - Elie Halevy and Lewis Namier; speaking with authority - the historian as social critic; Victorian values - from the Clapham sect to the Clapham omnibus. Part II Minds: high mind - John Stuart Mill; literary minds - Anthony Trollope and George Eliot; young minds - Charles Darwin and Bertrand Russell; moral mind - R. H. Tawney; liberal mind - Isaiah Berlin; critical minds - Raymond Williams and Richard Hoggart. Part III Arguments: against prodspeak - "Research" in the humanities; grievance studies - how not to do cultural criticism; company histories - CamU PLC and SocAnth Ltd; with friends like these - John Carey and Noel Annan; before another tribunal - the idea of the "non-specialist public".