John Lynch (historian)

John Lynch is a Latin Americanist historian. He was born on January 11, 1927 in Boldon, in northern England on the Atlantic coast near Scotland. He married Wendy Kathleen Norman in 1960. Both are Catholic. They had 5 children.
John Lynch studied at the University of Edinburgh (MA, 1952), and at the University of London (Ph.D., 1955).
Lynch served in the British Army after World War II from 1945-48. He taught at the University of Liverpool (1954-61) and has been teaching at the University of London since 1961 (now Emeritus Professor of Latin American History). He was the director for the Institute of Latin American studies at the University of London from 1974 until his retirement in 1987.
His work has reflected over the years a double shift of preference: from the River Plate area to Latin America as a whole, and from the 18th century to the 19th century.

Books

Spanish Colonial Administration, 1782-1810 (Athlone Press 1958) Spain under the Habsburgs vol. I and II co-author R. A. Humphreys (Oxford 1969) The Origins of Latin American Revolutions 1808-1826 (Norton 1973) Simon Bolivar: A Life New (Haven 2006) Argentine Caudillo: Juan Manuel de Rosas (Oxford 1980) Bourbon Spain, 1700-1808 (Oxford 1989) Spain, 1516-1598: from nation state to world empire (Oxford 1992) The Hispanic world in crisis and change, 1598-1700 (Oxford 1992) Massacre in the Pampas, 1872: Britain and Argentina in the age of migration Oklahoma 1998 Spain under the Habsburgs (Oxford 1964) The Spanish American Revolutions 1808-1826 (New York 1986) Spanish Colonial Administration 1782-1810: The Intendant System in the Viceroyalty of the Rio De La Plata (New York 1958)

Quotes

“The profession of historian has greatly changed in recent years under the influence of social science and statistics. At a time when measurement and conceptualization are paramount, I consider that the historian still has a duty to be readable, not least outside of the profession and that the virtues of pragmatism, intuition, and a sense of style are as important as ever.”
"I first became interested in Latin American history out of ignorance and curiosity, eager to discover a new world of sources and events. Since then I have tried to remove a few academic blind spots in Britain by teaching and writing in this field, and also to contribute the view of an outsider to Latin Americans. It is a matter of particular pleasure not only that I have been invited to lecture in their countries but that my books have been translated into Spanish and received a sympathetic reception in the Hispanic world. It is a challenging world, though the challenge for the historian is a limited one. The historian would not claim to resolve the problems of the present, only to reveal the past that lies behind the present.”