An Honourable Englishman

September 19, 2011
This superb biography romps through the life of one of 20th-century Britain’s most notorious, controversial, and influential historian-journalists. A brilliant if unlikable man, more essayist than book writer, Trevor-Roper seemed to go everywhere, know everyone, and eventually anger, often to the point of detestation, much of the UK’s academic and public world. Intellectually pugnacious, he enjoyed attacking fellow historians and excoriated Hannah Arendt’s coverage of the trial of Adolf Eichmann. He also fetched up everywhere—during WWII in M16, where he helped decipher the Nazi code; at Oxford and Cambridge; and in newspaper boardrooms, in all of which he caused dustups. An influential historian of 17th-century Britain, Trevor-Roper was also known for his unsurpassed study of Hitler’s last days and notorious for “authenticating” Hitler’s diaries, which turned out to be forgeries. Using never-before-exploited resources, NBCC award-winner Sisman, the much-praised biographer of Trevor-Roper’s fellow historian and competitor, A.J.P. Taylor, savors, as he makes us savor, a parade of juicy stories about his subject’s life and career and those he knew. Walk-on parts by such characters as Princess Margaret, Rupert Murdoch, Margaret Thatcher, and Albert Speer enliven the tale. Especially for those who delight in knowledge and gossip about Britain’s academic culture, public figures, and status-conscious society, this work, though bloated, will be compulsive reading. 24 pages of photos.

October 1, 2011
Exhaustive biography of Hugh Trevor-Roper (1914–2003), one of England's foremost and controversial 20th-century historians, critics and essayists. NBCC Award winner Sisman (The Friendship: Wordsworth and Coleridge, 2006, etc.) draws from archival correspondence and meticulous research, displaying a talent for balancing his subject's flaws and strengths. By his own admission, Trevor-Roper was inclined toward "pride" as well as "imprudence, ostentation, volubility, and the need for company," all of which manifested in various situations. Sisman successfully avoids turning the book into an account of a prickly, scholarly egoist who succumbed to hubris, a popular misconception. Trevor-Roper—who gained acclaim for investigating Hitler's death and who was later panned for mistakenly stating that the Hitler diaries found in the early '80s were authentic—emerges as a multilayered figure whose life should not be framed solely by these two widely publicized events. Though readers familiar with World War II intrigue and British radio intelligence will especially appreciate the chapters spanning the period, Sisman suggests that Trevor-Roper should also be remembered for his literary contributions and for the dignity he maintained despite heavy criticism. Leisurely in its pacing and studded with anecdotes that include major figures such as Winston Churchill, Henry Kissinger, Malcolm Muggeridge and Katharine Hepburn, the book considers how one man touched some of the most exclusive social circles while standing apart from them, and how he shaped public discourse with a formidable pen. Empathetic, illuminating and occasionally witty, if challenging in its depth and range of detail.

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July 1, 2011

One of the great British historians of the 20th century, the caustic Hugh Trevor-Roper made his name with studies of early English history and Nazi Germany. His golden glow was significantly darkened when he authenticated diaries of Hitler that later proved to be forged. Distinguished biographer Sisman, whose Boswell's Presumptuous Task won the National Book Critics Circle Award, lends his noteworthy skills to examining this outsize personality. A book on how history is done and, I think, a cautionary tale.

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