Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Lord Thomas of Swynnerton
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| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal |
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| In office 16 June 1981 – 7 May 2017 Life Peerage |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 October 1931 Windsor, Berkshire, England |
| Died | 7 May 2017 (aged 85) |
| Political party | Crossbench (1999-2017) |
| Other political affiliations |
Labour (until 1974) Conservative (1979–1997) Liberal Democrats (1997–1999) |
| Spouse | Hon. Vanessa Jebb |
| Children | 3 |
Hugh Thomas (born October 21, 1931 – died May 7, 2017) was a famous English historian and writer. He was also known as Baron Thomas of Swynnerton. He is most famous for his book called The Spanish Civil War.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Hugh Thomas was born in Windsor, England, on October 21, 1931. His father worked for the government in other countries.
Hugh went to Sherborne School and then to Queens' College, Cambridge University. He studied history there and was very good at it. He was even the president of the Cambridge Union Society, a famous debating club. He also studied in Paris at the Sorbonne University.
Career as a Historian and Writer
From 1954 to 1957, Hugh worked for the British government's Foreign Office. This office deals with other countries. He helped with a group at the United Nations that worked on disarmament (reducing weapons).
Later, from 1966 to 1975, he was a history professor at the University of Reading. He also led a European committee there. From 1979 to 1991, he was the chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies in London, which is a think tank that suggests ideas for government policies.
Famous Books
Hugh Thomas wrote many important history books. His most famous one is The Spanish Civil War, published in 1961. This book won an award called the Somerset Maugham Award in 1962. He updated this book several times, and it has been printed for over 50 years in many languages.
Another big book he wrote was Cuba, or the Pursuit of Freedom (1971). This book is very long, over 1,500 pages, and tells the story of Cuba's history from when Spain ruled it until the Cuban Revolution.
He also wrote about other historical events, like the beginning of the Cold War in Armed Truce (1986), and the conquest of Mexico by the Spanish in The Conquest of Mexico (1993). He wrote a detailed history of the Atlantic slave trade called The Slave Trade (1997).
Hugh Thomas also wrote a trilogy of books about the Spanish Empire: Rivers of Gold (2003), The Golden Age (2010), and World Without End (2014).
Besides history, he wrote three novels: The World's Game (1957), The Oxygen Age (1958), and Klara (1988).
Political Life
Hugh Thomas was involved in politics throughout his life. He was a member of the Labour Party until 1974.
In 1981, he became a life peer, which means he was given the title of Baron Thomas of Swynnerton and could sit in the House of Lords (part of the UK Parliament) for the rest of his life. He first sat as a Conservative. Later, in 1997, he joined the Liberal Democrats. After that, he became a crossbencher, which means he didn't belong to any specific political party in the House of Lords.
He wrote books about politics, especially favoring European integration, which is the idea of European countries working closely together.
In 1990, he helped start the History Curriculum Association. This group wanted schools to teach history in a way that focused more on facts and knowledge.
Personal Life
Hugh Thomas was married to Vanessa Jebb. She was a painter and the daughter of Gladwyn Jebb, who was an important diplomat and the first acting Secretary-General of the United Nations. Hugh and Vanessa had three children: Inigo, Isambard, and Isabella.
Awards and Honors
Hugh Thomas received many awards for his historical work:
- Somerset Maugham Award (1962)
- Nonino Prize (2009)
- Boccaccio Prize (2009)
- Gabarrón Prize (2008)
- Calvo Serer Prize (2009)
The French Government made him a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2008. He also received high honors from Spain, including the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic and the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise. Mexico also gave him the Order of the Aztec Eagle.
Works
- Disarmament – the way ahead Fabian Society (1957).
- The Spanish Civil War (1961); Penguin Books Ltd (1968); 2nd revised edition (1977); 4th revised edition (2003). A new revised edition in 2011 commemorated the book's reaching 50 consecutive years in print; it was published in 15 languages. online
- Cuba or the Pursuit of Freedom (1971); revised editions (1998), (2002), (2010). online
- Europe: the Radical Challenge (1973).
- John Strachey (1973). online
- An Unfinished History of the World (1979); published in the United States as A History of the World, then as World History (1998); and under the original title in London (by Hamish Hamilton) in 1979, and with revised editions in 1981 and 1982. online edition
- The revolution on balance (1983), Washington, DC; Cuban American National Foundation 1983 (CANF pamphlet #5). online
- Armed Truce (1986). A history of the beginning of the Cold War. online
- Ever Closer Union (1991).
- The conquest of Mexico (1993); published in the United States as Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés and the Fall of Old Mexico. online
- The Slave Trade: The History of the Atlantic Slave Trade 1440–1870 (1997); Simon & Schuster. online
- Who Is Who of the Conquistadors (2000). A study of those who fought for Cortés.
- Rivers of Gold (2003); the first book in a trilogy about the Spanish Empire. online
- Beaumarchais in Seville (2006); ISBN: 978-0-300-12103-2.
- Eduardo Barreiros and the Recovery of Spain (2009); a biography of Eduardo Barreiros.
- The Golden Age: The Spanish Empire of Charles V (2010); the second book in a trilogy about the Spanish Empire. Published in the United States as The Golden Empire: Spain, Charles V, and the Creation of America (2011).
- The World's Game; a novel (1957).
- The Oxygen Age; a novel (1958).
- Klara, a novel (1988).
- The Suez Affair (1966); an analysis of the Suez Crisis of 1956.
- World Without End: The Global Empire of Philip II (2014); the third volume in a trilogy about the Spanish Empire.
Arms
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See also
In Spanish: Hugh Thomas para niños
