John Bowie was born in 1905. He was educated at Marlborough and Balliol College, Oxford, where he was a Brackenbury Scholar. He was a history master at Westminster and later at Eton. From 1947 to 1949 he was Lecturer in Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford, and from 1950 to 1967 he was Professor of Political Theory at the College d’Europe, Bruges. He has also been visiting Professor at important American universities. He was a Leverhulme Research Fellow from 1949 to 1950 and won an Arts Council Prize in 1966. He has written many history books, including Western Political Thought, Politics and Opinion in the 19th Century, Henry VIII, The English Experience and The Imperial Achievement. He was also editor of A Concise Encyclopaedia of World History, of which the revised edition was published in 1971. He lives in Oxford.
Western Political Thought
‘historical and panoramic approach to the field of political theory. It is written in that clear, fluent, and often truly beautiful style.’ The Journal of Politics
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England: A Portrait
Why has England, a nation on a small island off the coast of the European mainland, had such a monumental impact on world history?
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Man Through the Ages
A panoramic history of humanity, exploring the debt that the modern societies owe to their forebears.
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A History of Europe: A Cultural and Political Survey
A breath-taking appraisal of the full expanse of European civilization; from the earliest prehistoric hunter-gatherers to the brilliant minds of the Ancient Greeks to the turmoil of the twentieth century.
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John Evelyn and His World
An impressive biography of the celebrated Restoration diarist John Evelyn. Perfect for readers of Claire Tomalin, Margaret Willes and Peter Ackroyd.
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Charles I
There has never been a more turbulent reign in British history than that of Charles I.
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Napoleon
An engrossing biography of the man who rose to become the world’s most powerful man during the eponymous Napoleonic Wars.
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Henry VIII
‘A steady, unblinking portrait of this able, ferocious and dreadful man.’ C. V. Wedgewood
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