Research Analysis on a Historian A.J.P. Taylor - Essay Example

A.J.P. Taylor was born in March 1906 in Lancashire, England, and was the only surviving child of politically liberal parents. During his childhood itself, he was an intelligent child and started reading books, especially historical novels. From the early period itself, he showed signs of sympathy to Russia and Communism, which he maintained during the beginning of his career. The Downs School headmaster’s account says that he was a rebellious boy during his school days. After schooling, Taylor received a scholarship from Oriel College, Oxford, where he was a supporter of the Communist Party. Even though he passed his honors with first class, he was not certain about his career. After initial confusion, he started his career as a lecture at Manchester University. Then, he actively participated in trade union politics, and thereby developed the skill of public speaking. Then, he started his part-time career as a journalist by writing columns for the Manchester Guardian. Throughout his career, he lectured in various universities on history and international affairs. Even though he was a communist supporter, in the beginning, he was dissatisfied with the party in its ineffective stand in the General Strike in 1926. For the rest of his life, he remained a staunch supporter of the Labour Party. Apart from writing columns in the Manchester Guardian, he wrote columns and reviews for Observer, the Daily Express, and various other magazines.
He published his first book, The Italian Problems in European Diplomacy 1847-49 in 1934. Another work The Course of German History (1945), an analysis of Weimar Germany, became the best seller of the year. A detailed diplomatic history, The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918(1954), helped Taylor to establish his reputation as an academic historian. Then, three years later, he produced a critical study of British foreign policy, The Trouble Makers. In 1961, he published his most controversial work, The Origins of the Second World War, which gave him the name ‘a revisionist’. He wrote a lot of books on history including From Napoleon to the Second International: Essays on Nineteenth-century Europe, The Second World War: an Illustrated History and Germany's First Bid for Colonies 1884–1885: a Move-in Bismarck's European Policy.