# Peter Mandler

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British historian

**Peter Mandler** [FRHistS](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Historical_Society) [FBA](/source/Fellow_of_the_British_Academy) (born 29 January 1958)[1] is a British historian and academic specialising in 19th and 20th century [British history](/source/British_history), particularly cultural history and the history of the social sciences. He is Professor in Modern Cultural History at the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge) and Bailey [fellow](/source/Fellow) in History at [Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge](/source/Gonville_and_Caius_College%2C_Cambridge).[2]

## Biography

Mandler was born in 1958 in [Boston](/source/Boston), [Massachusetts](/source/Massachusetts).[1][3] The elder brother of [Michael Mandler](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Mandler&action=edit&redlink=1), he is son of psychologists [George Mandler](/source/George_Mandler) and [Jean Mandler](/source/Jean_Mandler) who moved their family to [La Jolla](/source/La_Jolla) in 1965 when they joined the [UCSD](/source/UCSD) faculty.

After attending [Magdalen College, Oxford](/source/Magdalen_College%2C_Oxford), as an undergraduate, Mandler completed his PhD at [Harvard](/source/Harvard_University)[2] where he wrote a 1984 dissertation entitled *Liberalism and Paternalism: The Whig Aristocracy and the Condition of England, 1830–1852*.[4]

Mandler was an assistant professor of history at [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University) from 1984 to 1991.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] While there, in 1984 he co-hosted a three-day symposium at Princeton entitled “Socialism in America,” marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of six-time presidential candidate [Norman Thomas](/source/Norman_Thomas).[5]

Mandler started teaching in Britain in 1991 at [London Guildhall University](/source/London_Guildhall_University), and joined the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge) faculty in 2001.[6] He was President of the [Royal Historical Society](/source/Royal_Historical_Society) from 2012 to 2016, and is currently (since 2018) Chair of the Modern History section of the [British Academy](/source/British_Academy).[7]

## Research and scholarship

Mandler's main research interests are:[3]

- British history since c. 1800, especially cultural, intellectual and social history;

- the history of the humanities and social sciences in Britain and America;

- concepts and methods in cultural history;

- educational history and policy.

In his review[8] of Mandler's 2002 book *History and National Life*,[9] historian [Blair Worden](/source/Blair_Worden) states that Mandler praises the work of professional historians like [Simon Schama](/source/Simon_Schama), [Linda Colley](/source/Linda_Colley) and [Niall Ferguson](/source/Niall_Ferguson), who address a wide audience, in contrast to most specialists of the discipline, who put their very subject at risk by speaking only between themselves. In Mandler' own words, "there is intrinsic value in keeping the springs of knowledge 'clear and untainted' but there is greater value in ensuring that the supply reaches the consumer in something resembling its original state".[10]

Mandler occasionally makes television and radio appearances.[11]

## Works

Mandler's is author or editor of the following books:

- *Great Philanthropists: Wealth and Charity in the Modern World, 1815-1945* (ed., with David Cesarani) (Vallentine Mitchell, 2017).[12]

- *Return from the Natives: How Margaret Mead won the Second World War and lost the Cold War* (Yale University Press, 2013).[13]

- *From Plunder to Preservation: Britain and the Heritage of Empire, c.1800-1940* (ed., with Astrid Swenson) (British Academy, 2013).[14]

- *The English National Character: The History of an Idea from Edmund Burke to Tony Blair* (Yale University Press, 2006).[15] Review in *The Guardian*.[16] Review in *The New York Sun*.[17]

- *Liberty and Authority in Victorian Britain* (ed.) (Oxford University Press, 2006)[18]

- *History and National Life* (Profile Books, 2002).[9] Review in *Reviews in History* (Institute of Historical Research).[19]

- *The Fall and Rise of the Stately Home* (Yale University Press, 1997).[20]

- *After the Victorians: Private Conscience and Public Duty in Modern Britain: Essays in memory of John Clive* (ed., with [Susan Pedersen](/source/Susan_Pedersen_(historian))) (Routledge, 1994).[21]

- *The Uses of Charity: The Poor on Relief in the 19th-Century Metropolis* (ed.) (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990).[22]

- *Aristocratic Government in the Age of Reform: Whigs and Liberals, 1830-1852* (Clarendon Press, 1990).[23]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-WW_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-WW_1-1) ["MANDLER, Prof. Peter"](https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U258061). *[Who's Who](/source/Who's_Who_(UK))*. Vol. 2024 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or [UK public library membership](https://www.ukwhoswho.com/page/subscribe#public) required.)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bio_-_Gonville_&_Caius_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bio_-_Gonville_&_Caius_2-1) ["Professor Peter Mandler FBA"](https://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/people/professor-peter-mandler-fba). British Academy. Retrieved 21 December 2018.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bio_-_Faculty_of_History_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bio_-_Faculty_of_History_3-1) ["Professor Peter Mandler"](http://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/directory/pm297@cam.ac.uk). *The Faculty*. Faculty of History, University of Cambridge. Retrieved 20 December 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Mandler, Peter (1984). *Liberalism and Paternalism: The Whig Aristocracy and the Condition of England* (PhD). Harvard University.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NYT_5-0)** Horner, Shirley (4 November 1984). ["Panels to Explore Socialist Legacy"](https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/04/nyregion/panels-to-explore-socialist-legacy.html). *New York Times*. Retrieved 30 May 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Caius historian elected to American Academy of Arts and Science"](https://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/news/caiusfellowmandleracademy). Gonville & Caius, University of Cambridge. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bio_-_British_Academy_7-0)** ["Professor Peter Mandler FBA"](https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/fellows/peter-mandler-FBA). *Fellows*. British Academy. Retrieved 21 December 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Worden, Blair (14 July 2002). ["What is the future of history?"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4728136/What-is-the-future-of-history.html). *The Telegraph*. Retrieved 20 December 2018.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-history_national_life_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-history_national_life_9-1) Mandler, Peter (2002). *History and National Life*. Profile Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-86197-469-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-86197-469-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Mandler, Peter (7 July 2002). ["What is History for?"](https://www.historytoday.com/peter-mandler/what-history). *History Today*. Vol. 52, no. 7.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** See, for instance, [*Arts & Ideas*](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06sfl58). 21 November 2018. [BBC](/source/BBC). Radio 3.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Mandler, Peter; Cesarani, David, eds. (2017). *Great Philanthropists: Wealth and Charity in the Modern World, 1815-1945*. Vallentine Mitchell. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-910383-19-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-910383-19-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Mandler, Peter (2013). [*Return from the Natives: How Margaret Mead won the Second World War and lost the Cold War*](https://books.google.com/books?id=9aCqRoUoKf4C). Yale University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-300-18785-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-300-18785-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Swenson, Astrid; Mandler, Peter, eds. (2013). [*From Plunder to Preservation: Britain and the Heritage of Empire, c.1800-1940*](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/from-plunder-to-preservation-9780197265413). British Academy. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-726541-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-726541-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Mandler, Peter (2006). [*The English National Character: The History of an Idea from Edmund Burke to Tony Blair*](https://archive.org/details/englishnationalc0000mand). Yale University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-300-12052-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-300-12052-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Sansom, Ian (3 February 2007). ["National obsession"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/feb/03/society). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 22 December 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Kirsch, Adam (19 March 2007). ["As English as the English"](https://www.nysun.com/arts/as-english-as-the-english/50732). *The New York Sun*. Retrieved 22 December 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Mandler, Peter, ed. (2006). [*Liberty and Authority in Victorian Britain*](https://books.google.com/books?id=UsMSDAAAQBAJ). Oxford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-927133-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-927133-7)..

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Spalding, Roger (30 September 2002). ["History and National Life"](https://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/300). *Reviews in History* (300).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Mandler, Peter (1999). [*The Fall and Rise of the Stately Home*](https://books.google.com/books?id=wQfqCc0gxAoC). Yale University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-300-07869-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-300-07869-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Pedersen, Susan; Mandler, Peter, eds. (1994). [*After the Victorians: Private Conscience and Public Duty in Modern Britain: Essays in Memory of John Clive*](https://books.google.com/books?id=eqKJAgAAQBAJ). Routledge. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-415-07056-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-07056-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Mandler, Peter, ed. (1990). [*The Uses of charity: The Poor on Relief in the Nineteenth-Century Metropolis*](http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/1218.html). University of Pennsylvania Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8122-8214-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8122-8214-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Mandler, Peter (1990). [*Aristocratic Government in the Age of Reform: Whigs and Liberals, 1830-1852*](https://books.google.com/books?id=3ahpAAAAMAAJ). Clarendon Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-821781-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-821781-7).

Academic offices Preceded by Colin Jones President of the Royal Historical Society 2012–2016 Succeeded by Margot Finn

v t e Presidents of the Royal Historical Society 1871–1872 George Grote 1873–1878 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell 1878–1891 Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare 1891–1899 Sir M. E. Grant Duff 1899–1901 Sir Adolphus Ward 1901–1905 Sir George Prothero 1905–1909 William Hunt 1909–1913 William Cunningham 1913–1917 Sir Charles Firth 1917–1921 Sir Charles Oman 1921–1925 Sir John Fortescue 1925–1929 Frederick Tout 1929–1933 Sir Richard Lodge 1933–1937 Sir F. M. Powicke 1937–1945 Sir Frank Stenton 1946–1949 Robert William Seton-Watson 1949–1953 Theodore Plucknett 1953–1957 Hale Bellot 1957–1961 David Knowles 1961–1965 Sir Goronwy Edwards 1965–1969 Robin Humphreys 1969–1973 Sir R. W. Southern 1973–1977 Sir Geoffrey Elton 1977–1981 Sir John Habakkuk 1981–1985 Sir J. C. Holt 1985–1989 Gerald Aylmer 1989–1993 Michael Thompson 1993–1997 Sir Rees Davies 1997–2001 Sir P. J. Marshall 2001–2005 Dame Janet Nelson 2005–2008 Martin Daunton 2009–2012 Colin Jones 2012–2016 Peter Mandler 2016–2020 Margot Finn 2020-2024 Emma Griffin 2024-present Lucy Noakes

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Peter Mandler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Mandler) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Mandler?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.