John Lukacs
John Lukacs | |
---|---|
Born | John Adalbert Lukacs January 31, 1924 PhD ) |
Occupation | Historian |
John Adalbert Lukacs (/ˈluːkəs/;[1] Hungarian: Lukács János Albert; 31 January 1924 – 6 May 2019) was a Hungarian-born American historian and author of more than thirty books. Lukacs described himself as a reactionary.[2]
Life and career
Lukacs was born in
During the Second World War, when
After the war, Lukacs worked as the Secretary of the Hungarian-American Society.[8][9] In 1946, he received his doctorate from the University of Budapest.[7][10]
On 22 July 1946, as it was becoming clear that Hungary would become a Communist state, he fled to the United States. He found employment as a part-time assistant lecturer at Columbia University in New York City. He then relocated to Philadelphia, where in 1947 he began work as a history professor at Chestnut Hill College, a women's college at the time.[7]
He was a professor of history at
He was a president of the American Catholic Historical Association and member of both the Royal Historical Society and the American Philosophical Society.[11]
Views
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in the United States |
---|
Being an ardent anti-Communist, Lukacs nevertheless wrote in the early 1950s several articles in Commonweal criticizing the approach taken by Senator Joseph McCarthy, whom he described as a vulgar demagogue.[2]
Lukacs saw populism as the primary threat to modern civilization. By his own description, he considered himself a reactionary.[7] He identified populism as the essence of both Nazism and Communism, denying the existence of generic fascism and asserted that the differences between the political regimes of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy were greater than their similarities.[12]
A major theme in Lukacs's writing is his agreement with the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville that aristocratic elites have been replaced by democratic elites, which obtain power via an appeal to the masses. In his 2002 book, At the End of an Age, Lukacs argued that the modern/bourgeois age, which began around the time of the Renaissance, is coming to an end.[13] The rise of populism and the decline of elitism is the theme of his experimental work, A Thread of Years (1998), a series of vignettes set in each year of the 20th century from 1900 to 1998, tracing the abandonment of gentlemanly conduct and the rise of vulgarity in American culture. Lukacs defends traditional Western civilization against what he sees as the leveling and debasing effects of mass culture.
An Anglophile, Lukacs gives the highest historical importance to Winston Churchill. He considered Churchill to be the greatest statesman of the 20th century, the savior not only of Great Britain but also of Western civilization itself. A recurring theme in his writing is the duel between Churchill and Adolf Hitler for mastery of the world. Their moral struggle, which Lukacs sees as a conflict between the archetypical reactionary and the archetypical revolutionary, is the major theme of The Last European War (1976), The Duel (1991), Five Days in London (1999) and 2008's Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat, a book which features Churchill's first major speech as Prime Minister. Lukacs argues that Great Britain (and by extension the British Empire) could not defeat Germany by itself and that winning required the entry of the United States and the Soviet Union. He points out that by inspiring the British people to resist German air attacks and to "never surrender" during the Battle of Britain in 1940, Churchill laid the groundwork for the subsequent victory of the Allies.
Lukacs had strong isolationist beliefs and unusually for an anti-Communist émigré also had "surprisingly critical views of the Cold War from a unique conservative perspective".[14] Lukacs claimed that the Soviet Union was a feeble power on the verge of collapse and contended that the Cold War was an unnecessary waste of American treasure and life. Likewise, Lukacs was critical of American intervention abroad[15] and also condemned the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In his book George F. Kennan and the Origins of Containment, 1944-1946 (1997), a collection of letters exchanged between Lukacs and his close friend George F. Kennan during 1994–1995, Lukacs and Kennan criticized the claim of the New Left that the Cold War was caused by the United States. However, Lukacs argued that while Joseph Stalin was largely responsible for the beginning of the Cold War, the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower missed a chance for ending the Cold War in 1953 after Stalin's death, which kept it on for many more decades.
The Hitler of History
From around 1977 onwards, Lukacs became one of the leading critics of the British author
External videos | |
---|---|
Booknotes interview with Lukacs on The Hitler of History, February 28, 1998, C-SPAN |
Lukacs's book The Hitler of History (1997), a prosopography of the historians who have written biographies of Hitler, is in part a critique of Irving's work. Lukacs considered Irving to be sympathetic to the Nazis.[7] In turn, Irving has engaged in what many consider to be antisemitic and racist attacks against Lukacs. Because Lukacs' mother was Jewish, Irving disparagingly refers to him as "a Jewish historian". In letters of 25 October and 28 October 1997, Irving threatened to sue Lukacs for libel if he published his book (The Hitler of History) without removing certain passages which were highly critical of Irving's work.[19] The American edition of The Hitler of History was published in 1997 with the passages included, but because of Irving's legal threats no British edition of The Hitler of History was published until 2001.[19] As a result of Irving's threat of legal action under British libel laws, when the British edition was finally published the passages containing the criticism of Irving's historical methods were expunged by the publisher.[20][21]
In The Hitler of History, inspired by the example of
In Lukacs's view,
Later work
In his book Democracy and Populism: Fear and Hatred (2005), Lukacs writes about the current state of American democracy. He warns that the populism he perceives as ascendant in the United States renders it vulnerable to demagoguery. He claims that a transformation from liberal democracy to populism can be seen in the replacement of knowledge and history with propaganda and infotainment. In the same book, Lukacs criticizes legalized abortion, pornography, cloning and sexual permissiveness as marking what he sees as the increasing decadence, depravity, corruption and amorality of modern American society.[2]
June 1941: Hitler and Stalin (2006) is a book-length study of the two leaders with a focus on the events leading up to Operation Barbarossa. George Kennan: A Study of Character (2007) is a biography of Lukacs' friend George F. Kennan, based on privileged access to Kennan's private papers. Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat (2008) is a continuation of his work on what Lukacs considered the greatness of Churchill. Last Rites (2009) continues the "auto-history" he published in Confessions of an Original Sinner (1990). The Future of History was published on 26 April 2011.
In A Short History of the Twentieth Century (2013), Lukacs attempts to challenge the idea (common to both professional historians and experts in international relations) that the Cold War presented a bipolar system or a major strategic rivalry or conflict, instead arguing that the 20th century was one of American dominance. Citing the biographical example of Hitler as well as left- and right-wing populism in the United States, Lukacs also argues in the book that populism was the most destructive force of the 20th century and attempts to disentangle the concept of populism from its frequent (though, Lukacs argues, inaccurate) conflation with the inherent stances of left-wing politics.
Private life
In 1953, he married Helen Elizabeth Schofield, the daughter of a Philadelphia lawyer; the couple had two children. His wife died in 1971.[7] He married his second wife, Stephanie Harvey, in 1974.[27] From this marriage, Lukacs had step-children; his second wife died in 2003. He married for a third time, but his marriage to Pamela Hall ended in divorce.[7]
After his retirement in 1994, Lukacs concentrated on writing. He resided in Schuylkill Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania and retained nearly 18,000 books in his home library.[6]
Lukacs died from congestive heart failure on May 6, 2019, at his home in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.[7]
Works
- The Great Powers and Eastern Europe (New York: American Book Co., 1953).
- A History of the Cold War (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1961).
- Decline and Rise of Europe: A Study in Recent History, With Particular Emphasis on the Development of a European Consciousness (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1965).
- A New History of the Cold War (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1966).
- Historical Consciousness; or, The Remembered Past (New York: Harper & Row, 1968). Lukacs, John (1968). pbk reprint of 1994 edition. Transaction Publishers. LCCN 93048925.
- The Passing of the Modern Age (New York: Harper & Row, 1970).
- A Sketch of the History of Chestnut Hill College, 1924–1974 (Chestnut Hill, PA: Chestnut Hill College, 1975).
- The Last European War: September 1939–December 1941 (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, 1976).
- 1945: Year Zero (New York: Doubleday, 1978).
- Philadelphia: Patricians and Philistines, 1900–1950 (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1981).
- Outgrowing Democracy: A History of the United States in the Twentieth century (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1984).
- Budapest 1900: A Historical Portrait of a City and its Culture (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988). Lukacs, John (5 January 2012). 2012 ebook edition. Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. ISBN 9780802194213.
- Confessions of an Original Sinner (New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1990).
- The Duel: 10 May–31 July 1940: the Eighty-Day Struggle between Churchill and Hitler (New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1991).[28]
- The End of the Twentieth Century and the End of the Modern Age (New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1993).
- Destinations Past: Traveling through History with John Lukacs (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1994).
- The Hitler of History (New York: A. A. Knopf, 1997).
- George F. Kennan and the Origins of Containment, 1944–1946: the Kennan-Lukacs Correspondence, Introduction by John Lukacs. (Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 1997).
- A Thread of Years (New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 1998). ISBN 0-300-07188-4
- Five Days in London, May 1940 (New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 1999).
- A Student's Guide to the Study of History (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2000).
- Churchill: Visionary, Statesman, Historian (New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2002).
- At the End of an Age (New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2002).
- A New Republic: A History Of The United States In The Twentieth Century(New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2004).
- Democracy and Populism: Fear & Hatred (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005).
- Remembered Past: John Lukacs On History, Historians & Historical Knowledge: A Reader (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2005).
- June 1941: Hitler and Stalin. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2006 (ISBN 0-300-11437-0).
- George Kennan: A Study of Character. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2007 (ISBN 0-300-12221-7).
- Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Dire Warning. New York: Basic Books, 2008 (ISBN 0-465-00287-0).
- Last Rites. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2009 (ISBN 978-0-300-11438-6).[29]
- The Legacy of the Second World War. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2010 (ISBN 0-300-11439-7).
- Through the History of the Cold War: The Correspondence of George F. Kennan and John Lukacs / Edited by John Lukacs. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010. (ISBN 978-0-812-22271-5)
- The Future of History. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2011 (ISBN 978-0-300-16956-0.
- A Short History of the Twentieth Century. Harvard University Press, 2013 (ISBN 978-0-674-72536-2)
- We at the Center of the Universe. St. Augustines Press, 2017 (LCCN 2016-12557
See also
- List of books by or about Adolf Hitler
References
- ^ "John Lukacs “Popular Tides and the Ship of State”"
- ^ a b c Heer, Jeet (March 2005). "The Anti-Populist - Traditionalist historian John Lukacs laments the direction of conservatism in America". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
- ^ "Lukacs, John 1924– | Encyclopedia.com".
- ^ Lee Congdon. The Reactionary Loyalties of John Lukacs, The Imaginative Conservative, Summer 2014.
- ^ John Wilson. John Lukacs’s Valediction, The American Conservative, October 25, 2013.
- ^ a b John Lukacs. Surrounded by Books. Chronicles: A magazine of American Culture, November 2, 2017. Archived
- ^ a b c d e f g h "John Lukacs, iconoclastic scholar of history, dies at 95". The Washington Post. May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ^ James W. Tuttleton. The Faith of a Catholic Intellectual. Review of Confessions of an Original Sinner by John Lukacs, Modern Age: A Conservative Review, Spring 1993, Vol. 35, No. 3. Archive
- ISBN 978-0-879-34036-0Note: Formed in 1921 at Budapest, the Hungarian-American Society aimed at promoting good relations between the two nations.
- ^ Directory of American Scholars, 6th ed. (Bowker, 1974), Vol. I, p. 389.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
- ^ Lukacs, John The Hitler of History New York: Vintage Books, 1997, 1998 page 118
- ^ Lukacs, John At the End of An Age Yale University Press, 2003 page 3
- ^ Stromberg, Joseph (2005-02-07) An Anti-Imperialist's Reading List: Part Two, Antiwar.com
- ^ Gerald J. Russello. What You Need to Know About John Lukacs, Front Porch Republic, October 14, 2013.
- ^ Lukacs, John "Caveat Lector" pages 946-950 from National Review, Volume XXIX, Issue # 32, August 19, 1977, pages 946-947
- ^ Lukacs, John "Caveat Lector" pages 946-950 from National Review, Volume XXIX, Issue # 32, August 19, 1977, page 946
- ^ Lukacs, John "Caveat Lector" pages 946-950 from National Review, Volume XXIX, Issue # 32, August 19, 1977, pages 949-950
- ^ a b Evans, Richard J (2001). Lying About Hitler. p. 27.
- ^ Adams, Tim (24 February 2002). "Memories are made of this". The Observer. -London. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
- ^ Lipstadt, Deborah (2007). "Search: January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2008". Deborah Lipstadt's Blog. Blogspot. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
- ^ Lukacs, John The Hitler of History, New York: Vintage Books, 1997, 1998 pages 218-219
- ^ Lukacs, John The Hitler of History New York: Vintage Books, 1997, 1998 pages 133 & 149-150
- ^ Lukacs, John The Hitler of History New York: Vintage Books, 1997, 1998 pages 149-151
- ^ Lukacs (1997), p.147.
- ^ Lukacs (1997), p. 149.
- ^ 2005 Schuylkill Oral History Project interview: Dr. John Lukacs, Transcribed by Nancy Loane, Edited by John Lukacs on October 25, 2017. Archived
- ^ "Review of The Duel: 10 May–31 July 1940: the Eighty-Day Struggle between Churchill and Hitler by John Lukacs". Kirkus Reviews. January 1990.
- ^ Buchella, Jeffrey G. (September 2011). "Review of Last Rites by John Lukacs" (PDF). The Federal Lawyer: 40–42.
Sources
- Allitt, Patrick Catholic Intellectuals And Conservative Politics In America 1950-1985, Cornell University Press, 1993.
- Williamson, Chilton The Conservative Bookshelf: Essential Works That Impact Today's Conservative Thinkers, Citadel Press, 2004.
- Rodden, John; Rossi, John (2008). "John Lukacs: Visionary, Critic, Historian". Society. 45 (3): 222–232. S2CID 143569547.
External links
Lectures
Essays
- The Universality of National Socialism (The Mistaken Category of `Fascism’) by John Lukacs
- Putting Man Before Descartes by John Lukacs
=Further Reading=:
- Bernhard Valentinitsch,Max-Erwin von Scheubner-Richter(1885-1923)-Zeuge des Genozids an den Armeniern und früher,enger Mitarbeiter Hitlers.Diplomarbeit.Graz 2012., (also digitised at Harvard University Library, dedicated to John Lukacs, with many reflexions about his work, especially his work about Hitler and similar ways of thinking in the work of Lukacs and his friend Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn)
Lukacs reviewed
- George Kennan: A Study of Character Review by James Traub in The New York Times, April 29, 2007.
- The People's Hitler Does Hitler's popularity discredit populism itself?: A Review of The Hitler of History by Adam Shatz
- The Anti-Populist Traditionalist historian John Lukacs laments the direction of conservatism in America by Jeet Heer
- Review of THE HITLER OF HISTORY by John Lukacs & EXPLAINING HITLER: THE SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINS OF HIS EVIL by Ron Rosenbaum
- History in a Democratic Age: A Conversation with John Lukacs
- Towards the Fuhrer: Review of The Hitler Of History
- Churchill and His Myths
- The Lettered Reactionary (retrieved 5 January 2017) Lukacs' profile by John Rodden and John Rossi
Lukacs interviewed
- In Depth interview with Lukacs, February 6, 2000, C-SPAN
- 2005 Schuylkill Oral History Project interview: Dr. John Lukacs, December 8, 2005. Transcribed by Nancy Loane. Edited by John Lukacs on October 25, 2017. Archived
- Interview with Lukacs on "New Books in History"