Dodd/Thompson Research Correspondence 1963-1979TABLE OF CONTENTS |
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Dodd/Thompson Research Correspondence 1963-1979Summary
Return to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationThe collection was donated to the Centre in 1996 by Edward Dodd's family. The Modern Records Centre uses a classification scheme which is compatible with ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description (2000). For further details see the Centre's web pages. Authority files exist for Edward Palmer Thompson (GB 0152 AAR0989) and Edward Ernest Dodd (GB 0152 AAR0990). Preferred citation : Dodd/Thompson Research Correspondence (MSS.369), Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Access : Open Return to the Table of Contents Historical NoteEdward Palmer Thompson's (1924-1993) first major work as an historian came with his biography of William Morris, published in 1955. However, it was with the publication of his book The Making of the English Working Class (1963) that Thompson found himself more widely known outside the narrow circles of the old and new intellectual Left. This, his most famous work, was followed in the 1970s by further important historial publications, that concentrated largely on the 18th century. These included Whigs and Hunters (1975), Albion's Fatal Tree (1975), and Poverty of Theory (1978). An enthusiastic peace campaigner throughout his life, Thompson was a founder member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1957, and in the 1980s he drafted the European Nuclear Disarmament (END) Appeal, which helped to mobilie anti-nuclear support across the continent. Thompson's involvement in the END campaign also helped to break the identification between the Western peace movement and the Soviet Union, turning the issue into a genuine moral protest. This constant pressure on officials, and the support for human rights groups in East Central Europe certainly did much to spark off the eventual collapse of several Communist-led regimes in 1989. Thompson himself referred to it as 'the most serious political work I have ever done or will ever do in my life'. Edward Ernest Dodd worked with Thompson on several occasions during the 1960s and 1970s, carrying out research for him at the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and other local record offices. Dodd was also an historian in his own right, having published a History of the Bingley Grammar School 1529-1929 (1930) and Bingley Parish and Township Records (1953). Reference: E.J. Hobsbawm, obituary in The Independent (30 August 1993); Finding aid for MSS.369. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and ContentCorrespondence between E.P. Thompson and E.E. Dodd regarding research topics to be followed up, work in progress, and other matters, 1965-1979; research notes, 1963. Return to the Table of Contents |