George Peabody Gooch OM, CH (21 October 1873 – 31 August 1968) was a British journalist, historian and Liberal Party politician. A follower of Lord Acton, he never held an academic position, but knew the work of historians of continental Europe.[1]
Contents |
Gooch was born in London, and educated at Eton College, King's College London and Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] He was elected at the 1906 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath, but lost the seat at the January 1910 general election.[3] He stood again in Bath at the December 1910 general election, but did not regain the seat,[3] and was unsuccessful again when he stood at a by-election in Reading in November 1913.[4]
He edited Contemporary Review, from 1911 until 1960.[5]
After World War I, he was an influential historian of Europe of the period, critical of British policy. He was active in the Union of Democratic Control.[6]
From the mid-1920s and for a decade he was involved in the publication of the official British diplomatic history, with Harold Temperley. Both choices, Gooch and Temperley, were intended to signal that the history was independent of the Government.[7] Gooch's selection was against reservations of Headlam-Morley, and Temperley himself, that he was too committed to a pro-German position, and criticism of Sir Edward Grey.[8]
He has been noted as a significant revisionist historian of Europe of the early twentieth century, and in particular of the causes of World War I.[9] He has been grouped with Harry Elmer Barnes and Sidney Bradshaw Fay as "early revisionists".[10]
He became a Companion of Honour in 1939, and a member of the Order of Merit in 1963. He died in London in 1968.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edmond Wodehouse Wyndham Murray |
Member of Parliament for Bath 1906 – January 1910 With: Donald Maclean |
Succeeded by Sir Charles Hunter, Bt Lord Alexander Thynne |