The Essay: What is History Today? begins tonight (Monday 14th November) on BBC Radio 3 at 22:45 and runs every night this week at the same time ending on Friday 18th November.
It's 50 years since the historian EH Carr published What Is History? As a Russian specialist and noted writer on international relations, Carr's book had a considerable impact on his peers. All week in this slot five historians consider what links their work with his. Tonight, Richard Evans, Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, reviews Carr's major theories and discusses how his life contributed to the style of his most famous book. He will be followed by Elizabeth Buettner; Amanda Foreman; former LSE IDEAS Visiting Professor Niall Ferguson; and current IRD Professor Michael Cox. Linda Colley's preceding Free Thinking lecture (10.00pm) shows how history is a guide to understanding change.
Monday: Richard Evans
Tuesday: Elizabeth Buettner
Wednesday: Amanda Foreman
Thursday: Niall Ferguson
Friday: Michael Cox
BBC Radio 3 Fri 18 Nov 2011. 22:45 |
Professor Michael Cox
In the final episode of the series, Michael Cox|, Professor of International Relations (IR) at the London School of Economics, discusses E.H. Carr's influential theories on international relations and how they can be applied today. Cox explains the international changes taking place when Carr was writing What is History? during the Cold War, when the power relationship seemed to be shifting from the West in favour of the Soviet Union in the East. Today, Cox sees a situation occurring in which economic power is gradually moving from the West to the East but this time, it is China that is growing stronger. In light of these developments, Michael Cox re-examines Carr's theories and finds them infinitely applicable to 21st century global affairs.