Edward Hallett Carr

The diplomat, journalist, and historian Edward Hallett Carr (1892-1982) was born in London to middle-class parents. He attended the Merchant Taylors' School in London and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1916 with a degree in Classics. In the same year, amidst the First World War, he began his diplomatic career at the Foreign Office, from which he resigned in 1936. Initially, as a member of the Contraband Department of the Foreign Office, he was responsible for the Allies' relations with Germany. After 1917, as a member of the Northern Department, he focused on Britain's relations with Russia, foresaw the Bolsheviks' victory in the October Revolution, and advised Prime Minister Lloyd George accordingly, in contrast to Defense Minister Winston Churchill, who supported intervention in favor of the Mensheviks. He participated in the British delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and in drafting the Treaty of Versailles, which led to the founding of the League of Nations. His diplomatic career was later praised by Lord Halifax, and in 1920 he was awarded the title of Commander of the British Empire (CBE). After leaving the diplomatic service in 1936, he took up the position of Wilson Professor of International Politics at the University College of Wales and became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (1955), and Balliol College, Oxford (1966). His most renowned historical work is the "History of Soviet Russia" in 14 volumes, written and published between 1950 and 1978. Other books by him include: "The Romantic Exiles: A Nineteenth Century Portrait Gallery," 1933, "The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations," 1939 1946, "The Soviet Impact on the Western World," 1946, "The New Society," 1951, "German-Soviet Relations Between the Two World Wars: 1919-1939," 1952, "The Russian Revolution: From Lenin to Stalin (1917-1929)," 1979, "From Napoleon to Stalin and Other Essays," 1980, and the classic in its field, "What is History?," 1961 and 1986 (edited by R.W. Davies).