Robert Roswell Palmer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Roswell Palmer (January 11, 1909 – June 11, 2002), commonly known as R.R. Palmer, was a distinguished historian of France. He is best known for his work as a history text writer.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Palmer accelerated through the public schools, even winning a contest to write a play in Latin. He received his Ph. B.[Bachelor of Philosophy] from the University of Chicago in 1931 and PhD from Cornell University three years later. His dissertation dealt with "The French Idea of American Independence on the Eve of the French Revolution". In 1936 Palmer began teaching at Princeton University where he would remain for about 30 years, interrupted with stints at Washington University in St. Louis, Yale University, and the University of Michigan, retiring in 1977. Palmer married Esther Howard in 1942, had three children and four grandchildren. His son, historian Stanley Palmer, is currently a professor of history at the University of Texas at Arlington.
In 1950 he published A History of the Modern World, which is in its tenth edition as of April 2006. In the later versions, he enjoyed the assistance of Joel Colton and Lloyd Kramer. The text is used in many colleges and many Advanced Placement History high school classes. The text is written in the style of an essay, thus his introduction is from the dawn of man to the year 1300 CE (when the book was written A.D. and B.C. were the predominant dating eras). The text covers everything from the Black Death to the Fall of the Soviet Union in European history. The book however, is not entirely chronological and is grouped into categories based on ideas, i.e. the effect of the French Revolution on modern and ancients' thought may be mentioned before the French Revolution itself. The essay closes with current history, including the Iraq War, and does not restrict itself to the confines of European involvement, as most of the essay does.
Other works by Palmer include Believers and Unbelievers in 18th Century France (1939), Twelve Who Ruled (1941), The Coming of the French Revolution (translator, 1947), The Age of the Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America, 1760-1800 (2 vols., 1959-64), The World of the French Revolution (1971), The Improvement of Humanity: Education and the French Revolution (1985), Two Tocquevilles: Father and Son (1987), and From Jacobin to Liberal: Marc-Antoine Jullien, 1775-1848 (1993).
Palmer has also translated such books as Georges Lefebvre's, "Coming of the French Revolution," Louis Bergeron's, "France Under Napoleon," and Jean-Paul Bertaud's, "Army of the French Revolution" and has served as editor and translator of "From Jacobin to Liberal: Marc-Antoine Jullien, 1775-1848."
In 1960 Palmer served as President of the Society for French Historical Studies and of the American Historical Association in 1970. He has been the recipient of the Bancroft Prize, 1960 and The Antonio Feltrinelli International Prize for History in Rome, 1990 and has honorary degrees from the Universities of Uppsala and Toulouse.
