George Peabody Gooch
George Peabody Gooch OM, CH (21 October 1873 – 31 August 1968) was a British journalist, historian and Liberal Party politician. A follower of Lord Acton, he never held an academic position, but knew the work of historians of continental Europe.[1]
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[edit] Early life
Gooch was born in London, and educated at Eton College, King's College London and Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] He was elected at the 1906 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath, but lost the seat at the January 1910 general election.[3] He stood again in Bath at the December 1910 general election, but did not regain the seat,[3] and was unsuccessful again when he stood at a by-election in Reading in November 1913.[4]
He edited Contemporary Review, from 1911 until 1960.[5]
[edit] Historian
After World War I, he was an influential historian of Europe of the period, critical of British policy. He was active in the Union of Democratic Control.[6]
From the mid-1920s and for a decade he was involved in the publication of the official British diplomatic history, with Harold Temperley. Both choices, Gooch and Temperley, were intended to signal that the history was independent of the Government.[7] Gooch's selection was against reservations of Headlam-Morley, and Temperley himself, that he was too committed to a pro-German position, and criticism of Sir Edward Grey.[8]
He has been noted as a significant revisionist historian of Europe of the early twentieth century, and in particular of the causes of World War I.[9] He has been grouped with Harry Elmer Barnes and Sidney Bradshaw Fay as "early revisionists".[10]
[edit] Awards and honours
He became a Companion of Honour in 1939, and a member of the Order of Merit in 1963. He died in London in 1968.
[edit] Works
- The History of English Democratic Ideas in the Seventeenth Century (1898)
- A History of Our Time 1885-1911 and later editions
- History and Historians in the Nineteenth Century (1913)
- The Races of Austria-Hungary (1917) UDC pamphlet
- Germany and the French Revolution (1920)
- History of Modern Europe, 1878-1919 (1923)
- Germany (1926)
- Recent Revelations of European Diplomacy (1927)
- Origins of the War, with Harold Temperley
- Maria Theresa and Other Studies (1951)
- Under Six Reigns (1958)
- Catherine the Great, and other studies (1966)
- Life of Lord Courtney
[edit] References
- Felix E. Hirsch, George Peabody Gooch, The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 26, No. 3 (September 1954), pp. 260–271
- A. O. Sarkissian, Studies in Diplomatic History and Historiography in Honour of G. P. Gooch, C. H. (1963)
- W. N. Medlicott, G. P. Gooch, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 4, No. 1, Colonialism and Decolonization (January 1969), pp. 201–203
- Frank Eyck (1982), G. P. Gooch: A Study in History and Politics
[edit] Notes
- ^ Donald R. Kelley, Frontiers of History: Historical Inquiry in the Twentieth Century (2006), p. 101.
- ^ Venn, J.; Venn, J. A., eds. (1922–1958). "Gooch, George Peabody". Alumni Cantabrigienses (10 vols) (online ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ a b Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 66. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
- ^ Craig, op. cit., page 174
- ^ "News - Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/18/db1802.xml.
- ^ Cercles-Actors And Witnesses
- ^ Hamilton
- ^ Keith M. Wilson, Forging the Collective Memory: Government and International Historians (1996), pp. 15-6.
- ^ Annika Mombauer, The Origins of the First World War: Controversies and Consensus (2002), p. 96.
- ^ Bascom Barry Hayes, Bismarck and Mitteleuropa (1994), p. 17.
[edit] External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Peabody Gooch
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edmond Wodehouse Wyndham Murray |
Member of Parliament for Bath 1906 – January 1910 With: Donald Maclean |
Succeeded by Sir Charles Hunter, Bt Lord Alexander Thynne |
- 1873 births
- 1968 deaths
- Old Etonians
- Alumni of King's College London
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- Members of the Order of Merit
- Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour
- English historians
- Liberal Party (UK) MPs
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1906–1910
- Politics of Bath, Somerset
