many more, and he has now had two very good books written about him. Taylor was not only one of the bestselling historians of the second half of the 20th century, he was also one of the most recognisable--his unscripted television lectures are legend in broadcasting history--and one of the most controversial. His reinterpretation of Hitler's war aims, his extensive writing on international relations, and his po-faced history of modern England earned him widespread notoriety. A thorough enough biography of Taylor has already been written by Adam Sisman, but Kathleen Burk goes much further in looking at Taylor's teaching and writing career. Burk, an expert in modern Anglo-American relations, and a former research student of Taylor, is particularly good at examining Taylor's years as a junior lecturer in Manchester and as a busy don in Oxford. She provides a more detailed assessment of Taylor's main works than Sisman did, and she also does a wonderful job of costing Taylor's prolific literary and media output, demonstrating that Taylor earned around three times as much money from his media work and royalties than from his teaching salary. Now there's food for thought.--Miles Taylor
many more, and he has now had two very good books written about him. Taylor was not only one of the bestselling historians of the second half of the 20th century, he was also one of the most recognisable--his unscripted television lectures are legend in broadcasting history--and one of the most controversial. His reinterpretation of Hitler's war aims, his extensive writing on international relations, and his po-faced history of modern England earned him widespread notoriety. A thorough enough biography of Taylor has already been written by Adam Sisman, but Kathleen Burk goes much further in looking at Taylor's teaching and writing career. Burk, an expert in modern Anglo-American relations, and a former research student of Taylor, is particularly good at examining Taylor's years as a junior lecturer in Manchester and as a busy don in Oxford. She provides a more detailed assessment of Taylor's main works than Sisman did, and she also does a wonderful job of costing Taylor's prolific literary and media output, demonstrating that Taylor earned around three times as much money from his media work and royalties than from his teaching salary. Now there's food for thought.--Miles Taylor
many more, and he has now had two very good books written about him. Taylor was not only one of the bestselling historians of the second half of the 20th century, he was also one of the most recognisable--his unscripted television lectures are legend in broadcasting history--and one of the most controversial. His reinterpretation of Hitler's war aims, his extensive writing on international relations, and his po-faced history of modern England earned him widespread notoriety. A thorough enough biography of Taylor has already been written by Adam Sisman, but Kathleen Burk goes much further in looking at Taylor's teaching and writing career. Burk, an expert in modern Anglo-American relations, and a former research student of Taylor, is particularly good at examining Taylor's years as a junior lecturer in Manchester and as a busy don in Oxford. She provides a more detailed assessment of Taylor's main works than Sisman did, and she also does a wonderful job of costing Taylor's prolific literary and media output, demonstrating that Taylor earned around three times as much money from his media work and royalties than from his teaching salary. Now there's food for thought.--Miles Taylor
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Useful and readable Review ofThe Origins of the Second World War - A.J.P. Taylorby
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Advantages: Readable, interesting Disadvantages: Can be hard to find
...This book was first printed ages ago, but I have referred to it several times in the course of an academic career which began with GCSEs and ended when I graduated last year. The great thing about AJP Taylor is that not only was he a brilliant and extremely intelligent historian, he was also a brilliant and intelligent writer - two attributes which coincide rather less frequently than they ought to. Plus, when you regurgitate his opinions in essays or in class, they are generally met with approval by the teachers. The Origins of the Second World War is an important and interesting book, and it sparked quite a debate at the time of its appearance. It's worth reading even if you don't do history, because Taylor's style is good....
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Advantages: Quality photos, detailed analysis Disadvantages: Not really actually..
...As part of my A Level History course we covered the First World War in detail, but as we all know it is much better to get other opinions and draw your own from that. Hence this site! But one of my friends in the class had this book and as i sat next to him i could see how useful it was. This boy and me are pretty similar in ability, top 2 in the class sort of thing, regularly getting 85-95%. But i saw this book as the chance to improve myself.
So, i went to the amazon site and ordered it, arrived pretty soon after and i began reading it, as part of my revision process. I have to say i was immediately impressed by the level of detail in this book, every facet of the war is covered. It even includes things i wasn't taught before, and mentions some secret things i never knew before. AJP Taylor describes everything so clearly and draws...
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Advantages: Full of information and practical advice Disadvantages: Not all information is updated in new editions
...The Ciao illustration here shows the 2003 edition of the Writers' and Artists' Handbook, whereas this is a review of the 2006 edition which includes a foreword by Terry Pratchett as well as advice from J.K. Rowling, Mark Billingham, G.P. Taylor, Isabel Losada, Joanna Trollope, Simon Winchester and Maggie Gee. Terry Pratchett tells us that he bought his first copy of the book secondhand at the age of 13 or 14; he gives advice on how to be a professional boxer, ending by saying that becoming a writer is very similar except that it is not about boxing.
New articles in the 2006 edition include 'How to get ahead in cartooning' by Martin Rowson, 'I think I need an agent' by Mark Le Fanu of the Society of Authors, 'Year-in-view of the publishing industry' by Joel Rickett, 'How to attract the attention of a literary agent' by Alison Baverstock...
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