Raymond Carr

The Spanish historian María Jesús González Hernández assesses the life of Raymond Carr not only as an historian of Spain but also as a figure in Oxford’s intellectual and social life. Carr’s major works include Spain, 1808–1939, which was published in 1966 in the Oxford History of Modern Europe series (rev. ante, lxxxii [1967], 580–85). In González Hernández’s judgement, he single-handedly managed to transform the history of an entire country. Its translation influenced the Spanish public as well as a generation of Spanish historians. The book’s diverse subjects include rainfall and soil patterns in farming, schoolbooks and novels, ordinary soldiers as well as officers, and controversial constitutional issues, along with bullfights. Since Franco lived until 1975, the book’s publication in Spain was itself a significant episode because Carr subtly criticised the Franco regime. He wrote under difficult circumstances. These points and many more are made clear in a precise and perceptive introduction to this book written by Paul Preston. In view of his comprehensive comment on the Spanish side of Carr’s work, the present review focuses on the intellectual and cultural life of Oxford, especially Carr’s part in the shaping of the academic purpose of St Antony’s College, Oxford. He was Warden for nearly two decades, from 1968 to 1987. González Hernández emphasises the development of area studies in the history of the College, that development itself a creature of the cold war, with the CIA in the background

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