Books
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton." The Journal of Modern History 21, no. 4. 1949.Abstract: Among the great number of recent writings on Mill, this book is distinguished by its originality, and even where there is disagreement, one is refreshed by an encounter with an… More
The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton." The Journal of Modern History 21, no. 4. 1949.Abstract: LORD ACTON once complained that he ~agreed with no one and no one Li agreed with him. This should serve as a counsel of caution to his present-day interpreters. In the flush of… More
Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth, by Norbert Wiener
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth, by Norbert Wiener." Commentary Magazine, May, 1953.Excerpt: One of the famous exhibits in the 19th century’s showcase of infant prodigies is the four-year-old Macaulay who, when asked how he was feeling after having been scalded, replied:… More
Book Edited: On Population
– Malthus, Thomas Robert. 1960. On Population, New York: Modern Library.Read online on Natlib.govt.nz (Request online): On population. Buy hardcopy on Amazon.com: On population.
Name and Address, by T. S. Matthews
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Name and Address, by T. S. Matthews." Commentary Magazine, July, 1960.Excerpt: Some time ago there was an exchange program for English and American journalists, in the course of which a member of the staff of the Economist was briefly attached to Time.… More
The Politics of Democracy: The English Reform Act of 1867
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Politics of Democracy: The English Reform Act of 1867." Journal of British Studies 6, no. 1. 1966.Abstract: The Reform Act of 1867 was one of the decisive events, perhaps the decisive event, in modern English history. It was this act that transformed England into a democracy and made… More
Beatrice Webb: A Life, 1858-1943, by Kitty Muggeridge and Ruth Adam
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Beatrice Webb: A Life, 1858-1943, by Kitty Muggeridge and Ruth Adam." Commentary Magazine. 1968.Abstract: In an earlier biography, Margaret Cole, a long-time friend and political associate, wrote that Beatrice Webb, like “happy countries,” had “almost no personsonal history.”… More
Bentham Scholarship and the Bentham “Problem”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Bentham Scholarship and the Bentham "Problem"." The Journal of Modern History 41, no. 2. 1969.Abstract: Bentham has finally, indubitably, “made it.” Not as he had hoped to make it in his own time, as the reformer, indeed transformer, of society, law, and philosophy; nor… More
Commitment and Ideology: The Case of the Second Reform Act
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Commitment and Ideology: The Case of the Second Reform Act." Journal of British Studies 9, no. 1. 1969.Abstract: Whatever our differences, I am grateful to F. B. Smith for what must surely be the best academic news of the year: that under- graduates somewhere, if only in Australia, can still… More
The “Dependence of License upon Faith”: Miss Gertrude Himmelfarb on the Second Reform Act
– Smith, F. B. "The "Dependence of License upon Faith": Miss Gertrude Himmelfarb on the Second Reform Act." Journal of British Studies 9, no. 1. 1969.Abstract: When Miss Himmelfarb published “The Politics of Democracy: the English Reform Act of 1867” in this journal in November 1966,1 she drew one courteous protest, the… More
Mayhew’s Poor: A Problem of Identity
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Mayhew's Poor: A Problem of Identity." Victorian Studies 14, no. 3. 1971.Abstract: THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE” WAS AS MUCH A SET TOPIC FOR VICTORIANS as it has since become for historians.’ It was the subject of Royal Com- mission Reports and… More
The Unknown Mayhew, by Eileen Yeo and E.P. Thompson
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Unknown Mayhew, by Eileen Yeo and E.P. Thompson." Commentary Magazine. 1971.Abstract: The historian who does not subscribe to the creed of “relevance,” who believes, indeed, that the best history is written without thought of contemporary relevance, is… More
Book Edited: On Liberty
– Mil, John Stuart. 1974. On Liberty. London, United Kingdom: Penguin Books.Abstract: ‘Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.’ To this ‘one very simple principle’ the whole of Mill’s essay On Liberty is… More
The Seventh Hero: Thomas Carlyle and the Theory of Radical Activism, by Philip Rosenberg
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Seventh Hero: Thomas Carlyle and the Theory of Radical Activism, by Philip Rosenberg." Commentary Magazine, September, 1974.Excerpt: While I am defending Hook, I might take the occasion to defend others of Carlyle’s biographers and commentators from Rosenberg’s aspersions. He says, for example, that… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism. The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Ten, C. L. Political Theory 3, no. 3. 1975.Abstract: Professor Himmelfarb argues that the essay On Liberty conflicts with nearly everything else Mill wrote except his essays on women. Whereas the Mill of On Liberty propounded and… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Geiger, George R. The Antioch Review 33, no. 2. 1975.Abstract: Mill’s “On Liberty” has been, in many ways, the most provocative and influential essay in the entire area of individual freedom. The opening sentence itself,… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Rothblatt, Sheldon. Victorian Studies 20, no. 1. 1976.Abstract: IN THE LAST TWO YEARS AT LEAST THREE major books on John Stuart Mill have appeared, not to mention the annual outpour- ing of essays and articles on this or that aspect of his… More
The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, by Owen Chadwick
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, by Owen Chadwick." Commentary Magazine. 1976.Abstract: At the height of his campaign against Christianity, Voltaire took to concluding his letters with the motto, “Ecrasez l’infâme,” often abbreviated as “Ecr. linf.”… More
Reply to Louis B. Zimmer on Mill’s ‘Negative Argument’
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Reply to Louis B. Zimmer on Mill's 'Negative Argument'." Journal of British Studies 17, no. 1. 1977.Abstract: Dr. Zimmer’s misreading of my book on Mill is far less important than his misreading of Mill himself. Let me dispose of the lesser issue first. I did not “fault”… More
In Defense of the Two Cultures
– HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. "In Defense of the Two Cultures." The American Scholar50, no. 4. 1981.Abstract: Next year will be the centenary of Charles Darwin’s death, and the occasion will, no doubt, be properly memorialized. But it will be a very different kind of occasion from… More
William Cobbett: “An English episode”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The 'New History'." New Criterion, October, 1982.Excerpt: The English have had a penchant for the most unlikely heros, heros they’ve honored more—in the classical meaning of that much abused phrase—in the breach than in the… More
Who now reads Macaulay?
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Who now reads Macaulay?" New Criterion, December, 1982.Excerpt: Who now reads Bolingbroke?” Burke asked, thus casually, irrevocably, consigning him to the ash-heap of history. So the modern historian may be tempted to ask, “Who now reads… More
The Englishness of England
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Englishness of England." New Criterion, May 1983.Excerpt: Reviewing The English World in the Times Literary Supplement, the historian Theodore Zeldin wrote that it confirmed his view that “a national perspective cannot be sustained in… More
Engels in Manchester: Inventing the Proletariat
– HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. "Engels in Manchester: Inventing the Proletariat." The American Scholar 52, no. 4. 1983.Abstract: Frederick Engels, writing in 1845, described Chartism as only one manifestation of the “social war” that was being waged in England, a war that was bound to issue in a… More
Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians." New Criterion, November, 1983.Excerpt : When Lytton Strachey was asked to propose a toast to his Eminent Victorians, he quoted an eminent Victorian biographer: “When I hear men called ‘judicious’ I suspect them;… More
Denigrating the Rule of Reason
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Denigrating the Rule of Reason." Harpers Magazine. April, 1984.PDF [subscribers only] through Harper’s.
The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 1984. The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age. New York: Knopf.Review on Amazon: When did poverty cease to be a ‘natural’ condition and become a ‘social problem’? When did the pauper become distinguished from the poor? What… More
Review: The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Fraser, Derek. Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies 17, no. 2. 1985.Abstract: On the face of it there is much that is familiar in Professor Himmelfarb’s thoughtful and ambitious book. Seeking to elucidate the idea of poverty in early industrial… More
Review: The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Labour / Le Travail 17. 1986.Abstract: WIDELY-PRAISED, this text explores the ideas of those nineteenth-century figures whose political and economic commentary related to the poor: Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Jeremy… More
Of Heroes, Villains, and Valets
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Of Heroes, Villains, and Valets." Commentary Magazine. June, 1991.Excerpt: “No man is a hero to his valet.” The dictum is generally attributed to the Duke of Condé in the reign of Louis XIV. Hegel amplified it to read: “No man is a hero to his… More
The Abyss Revisited
–Abstract: A NOW CLASSIC ESSAY, “On the Teaching of Modern Literature,” Lionel Trilling described his students’ response to his own course on modern literature. I asked… More
A Neo-Luddite on the Internet
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "A Neo-Luddite on the Internet." Prospect Magazine. December, 1996.Excerpt: On the subject of our latest technological revolution, cyberspace, I am a neo-Luddite. Not a true Luddite; my Luddism is qualified, compromised. I revel in the word-processor; I am… More
On the Future of Conservatism
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "On the Future of Conservatism." Commentary Magazine. February, 1997.Excerpt: The November 1996 election and a number of other recent events have offered an opportunity for reassessment among conservatives. At issue is not only the meaning of the election… More
The Paradox of Thomas Carlyle: How to Read a Provocateur and Why We Should
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Paradox of Thomas Carlyle: How to Read a Provocateur and Why We Should." The Weekly Standard, February 24, 1997.Excerpt: More than half a century ago, Lionel Trilling wrote an essay on T. S. Eliot’s The Idea of a Christian Society, calling upon his liberal and Marxist friends to be more… More
Professor Narcissus
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Professor Narcissus." The Weekly Standard, June 2, 1997.Excerpt: Not so long ago, it was TV talk shows that were being excoriated for their wanton exhibitionism as they competed for the honor of producing the most brazen or degrading revelation… More
The Age of Philanthropy
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Age of Philanthropy." The Wilson Quarterly (1976-) 21, no. 2. 1997.Abstract: Cival society” has become the rallying cry of liberals and conservatives alike, especially in the wake of the recent reform of the welfare system. The devolution of welfare… More
Revolution in the Library
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Revolution in the Library." The American Scholar 66, no. 2. 1997.Access through JSTOR: Revolution in the Library
Beyond Method
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Beyond Method". What's Happened to the Humanities? Edited by Kernan Alvin. Princeton University Press, 1997.Abstract: For the journalist, the medium is the message. For the scholar, the method is the message. On this one proposition, traditional and nontraditional scholars may agree. Methodology… More
Review: Gertrude Himmelfarb on The Victorians and Ourselves
– Beum, Robert. "Gertrude Himmelfarb on The Victorians and Ourselves." The Sewanee Review 105, no. 2. 1997.Abstract: Gertrude Himmelfarb probably knows more about Victorian England than anyone alive. She knows the era’s many defamers no less intimately and has faced them all along as a… More
“A Man’s Own Household His Enemies”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "A Man’s Own Household His Enemies." Commentary Magazine. July/August, 1999.Excerpt: A passage in the Talmud reads: Rabbi Eliezer the Great said: . . . As the footsteps of the messiah approach, shamelessness will spread. . . . Schoolrooms will be used for lechery,… More
Lord Acton: in Pursuit of First Principles
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Lord Acton: in Pursuit of First Principles." New Criterion. June, 2000.Excerpt: Almost fifty years ago, introducing my biography of Lord Acton, I wrote: “He is of this age, more than of his. He is, indeed, one of our great contemporaries.” A decade and a… More
The Moral Imagination From Edmund Burke to Lionel Trilling
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 2006. The Moral Imagination From Edmund Burke to Lionel Trilling. Ivan R. Dee.Abstract: Chapter One Edmund Burke Apologist for Judaism? * One of the most moving experiences in my teaching career occurred after a seminar discussion of Edmund… More
Glorious, Indeed: What the English Revolution of 1688 Meant
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Glorious, Indeed: What the English Revolution of 1688 Meant." The Weekly Standard, July 23, 2007.Excerpt: Michael Barone is a distinguished political analyst, commentator, journalist, and occasional historian, the author of two books on recent American history. He has now ventured on a… More
Look back and learn what’s bright and good…
– Feigel, Lara. "Look back and learn what's bright and good..." The Guardian. 2008Abstract: The roads to modernity is an intelligent history of the Enlightenments in Britain, France and America that masks a contemporary political manifesto. Gertrude Himmelfarb emphasises… More
Reflections on Burke’s Reflections
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Reflections on Burke's Reflections." New Criterion, February, 2009.Excerpt: Edmund Burke was, and still is, a provocative thinker—a provocation in his own day, as in ours. At a time when most right-minded (which is to say, left-inclined) English literati… More
Sense and Sensibility: No Good Deed of Hume’s went Unpunished by Rousseau
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Sense and Sensibility: No Good Deed of Hume's went Unpunished by Rousseau." The Weekly Standard, March 30, 2009.Excerpt: “No man is a hero to his valet,” the old adage goes. Nor to his biographer. And eminent men–poets, statesmen, or philosophers–are all the more vulnerable.… More
Our Dignified Constitution: Fourth of July Reflections on the Queen’s Jubilee
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Our Dignified Constitution: Fourth of July Reflections on the Queen’s Jubilee." The Weekly Standard, July 16, 2012.Excerpt: It was perhaps inevitable that our Fourth of July celebrations last week might have seemed anti-climactic after the four-day festivities a month ago accompanying the Queen’s… More
The Victorian Lady: Margaret Thatcher’s Virtues
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Victorian Lady: Margaret Thatcher's Virtues." The Weekly Standard, April 22, 2013.Excerpt: I was at a reception at the British embassy here in Washington in the early 1990s, I believe, when I was introduced to Margaret Thatcher by John O’Sullivan, her friend and former… More
The French Connection: How the Revolution, and Two Thinkers, Bequeathed Us ‘Right’ and ‘Left’
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The French Connection: How the Revolution, and Two Thinkers, Bequeathed Us ‘Right’ and ‘Left’." The Weekly Standard, December 9, 2013.Excerpt: Hard cases, it is said, make bad law. So, too, extreme situations make bad policy and worse philosophy. The French Revolution was just such a situation; compared with the French,… More
Winston vs. the Webbs: A Century-old Precursor to the Obamacare Debate
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Winston vs. the Webbs: A Century-old Precursor to the Obamacare Debate." The Weekly Standard, April 21, 2014.Excerpt: The debate over Obamacare may remind a student of British history of the debate in Britain over the National Insurance Act of 1911, which was in effect until the initiation of the… More
Evolution and Ethics, Revisited
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Evolution and Ethics, Revisited." The New Atlantis, no. 42. 2014.Excerpt: That is John Henry Newman in The Idea of a University (1852) referring to the sciences of his day, which threatened to dominate and even overwhelm theological education in the… More
From Robespierre to ISIS: Edmund Burke’s War on Terror—and Ours
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "From Robespierre to ISIS: Edmund Burke’s War on Terror—and Ours." The Weekly Standard, September, 29 2014.Excerpt: he war on terror is over, the president assured us a year ago. Now, we are told, that war is very much with us and will be pursued with all due diligence. The president was… More
Essays
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton." The Journal of Modern History 21, no. 4. 1949.Abstract: Among the great number of recent writings on Mill, this book is distinguished by its originality, and even where there is disagreement, one is refreshed by an encounter with an… More
The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton." The Journal of Modern History 21, no. 4. 1949.Abstract: LORD ACTON once complained that he ~agreed with no one and no one Li agreed with him. This should serve as a counsel of caution to his present-day interpreters. In the flush of… More
Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth, by Norbert Wiener
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth, by Norbert Wiener." Commentary Magazine, May, 1953.Excerpt: One of the famous exhibits in the 19th century’s showcase of infant prodigies is the four-year-old Macaulay who, when asked how he was feeling after having been scalded, replied:… More
Book Edited: On Population
– Malthus, Thomas Robert. 1960. On Population, New York: Modern Library.Read online on Natlib.govt.nz (Request online): On population. Buy hardcopy on Amazon.com: On population.
Name and Address, by T. S. Matthews
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Name and Address, by T. S. Matthews." Commentary Magazine, July, 1960.Excerpt: Some time ago there was an exchange program for English and American journalists, in the course of which a member of the staff of the Economist was briefly attached to Time.… More
The Politics of Democracy: The English Reform Act of 1867
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Politics of Democracy: The English Reform Act of 1867." Journal of British Studies 6, no. 1. 1966.Abstract: The Reform Act of 1867 was one of the decisive events, perhaps the decisive event, in modern English history. It was this act that transformed England into a democracy and made… More
Beatrice Webb: A Life, 1858-1943, by Kitty Muggeridge and Ruth Adam
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Beatrice Webb: A Life, 1858-1943, by Kitty Muggeridge and Ruth Adam." Commentary Magazine. 1968.Abstract: In an earlier biography, Margaret Cole, a long-time friend and political associate, wrote that Beatrice Webb, like “happy countries,” had “almost no personsonal history.”… More
Bentham Scholarship and the Bentham “Problem”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Bentham Scholarship and the Bentham "Problem"." The Journal of Modern History 41, no. 2. 1969.Abstract: Bentham has finally, indubitably, “made it.” Not as he had hoped to make it in his own time, as the reformer, indeed transformer, of society, law, and philosophy; nor… More
Commitment and Ideology: The Case of the Second Reform Act
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Commitment and Ideology: The Case of the Second Reform Act." Journal of British Studies 9, no. 1. 1969.Abstract: Whatever our differences, I am grateful to F. B. Smith for what must surely be the best academic news of the year: that under- graduates somewhere, if only in Australia, can still… More
The “Dependence of License upon Faith”: Miss Gertrude Himmelfarb on the Second Reform Act
– Smith, F. B. "The "Dependence of License upon Faith": Miss Gertrude Himmelfarb on the Second Reform Act." Journal of British Studies 9, no. 1. 1969.Abstract: When Miss Himmelfarb published “The Politics of Democracy: the English Reform Act of 1867” in this journal in November 1966,1 she drew one courteous protest, the… More
Mayhew’s Poor: A Problem of Identity
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Mayhew's Poor: A Problem of Identity." Victorian Studies 14, no. 3. 1971.Abstract: THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE” WAS AS MUCH A SET TOPIC FOR VICTORIANS as it has since become for historians.’ It was the subject of Royal Com- mission Reports and… More
The Unknown Mayhew, by Eileen Yeo and E.P. Thompson
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Unknown Mayhew, by Eileen Yeo and E.P. Thompson." Commentary Magazine. 1971.Abstract: The historian who does not subscribe to the creed of “relevance,” who believes, indeed, that the best history is written without thought of contemporary relevance, is… More
Book Edited: On Liberty
– Mil, John Stuart. 1974. On Liberty. London, United Kingdom: Penguin Books.Abstract: ‘Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.’ To this ‘one very simple principle’ the whole of Mill’s essay On Liberty is… More
The Seventh Hero: Thomas Carlyle and the Theory of Radical Activism, by Philip Rosenberg
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Seventh Hero: Thomas Carlyle and the Theory of Radical Activism, by Philip Rosenberg." Commentary Magazine, September, 1974.Excerpt: While I am defending Hook, I might take the occasion to defend others of Carlyle’s biographers and commentators from Rosenberg’s aspersions. He says, for example, that… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism. The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Ten, C. L. Political Theory 3, no. 3. 1975.Abstract: Professor Himmelfarb argues that the essay On Liberty conflicts with nearly everything else Mill wrote except his essays on women. Whereas the Mill of On Liberty propounded and… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Geiger, George R. The Antioch Review 33, no. 2. 1975.Abstract: Mill’s “On Liberty” has been, in many ways, the most provocative and influential essay in the entire area of individual freedom. The opening sentence itself,… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Rothblatt, Sheldon. Victorian Studies 20, no. 1. 1976.Abstract: IN THE LAST TWO YEARS AT LEAST THREE major books on John Stuart Mill have appeared, not to mention the annual outpour- ing of essays and articles on this or that aspect of his… More
The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, by Owen Chadwick
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, by Owen Chadwick." Commentary Magazine. 1976.Abstract: At the height of his campaign against Christianity, Voltaire took to concluding his letters with the motto, “Ecrasez l’infâme,” often abbreviated as “Ecr. linf.”… More
Reply to Louis B. Zimmer on Mill’s ‘Negative Argument’
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Reply to Louis B. Zimmer on Mill's 'Negative Argument'." Journal of British Studies 17, no. 1. 1977.Abstract: Dr. Zimmer’s misreading of my book on Mill is far less important than his misreading of Mill himself. Let me dispose of the lesser issue first. I did not “fault”… More
In Defense of the Two Cultures
– HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. "In Defense of the Two Cultures." The American Scholar50, no. 4. 1981.Abstract: Next year will be the centenary of Charles Darwin’s death, and the occasion will, no doubt, be properly memorialized. But it will be a very different kind of occasion from… More
William Cobbett: “An English episode”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The 'New History'." New Criterion, October, 1982.Excerpt: The English have had a penchant for the most unlikely heros, heros they’ve honored more—in the classical meaning of that much abused phrase—in the breach than in the… More
Who now reads Macaulay?
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Who now reads Macaulay?" New Criterion, December, 1982.Excerpt: Who now reads Bolingbroke?” Burke asked, thus casually, irrevocably, consigning him to the ash-heap of history. So the modern historian may be tempted to ask, “Who now reads… More
The Englishness of England
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Englishness of England." New Criterion, May 1983.Excerpt: Reviewing The English World in the Times Literary Supplement, the historian Theodore Zeldin wrote that it confirmed his view that “a national perspective cannot be sustained in… More
Engels in Manchester: Inventing the Proletariat
– HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. "Engels in Manchester: Inventing the Proletariat." The American Scholar 52, no. 4. 1983.Abstract: Frederick Engels, writing in 1845, described Chartism as only one manifestation of the “social war” that was being waged in England, a war that was bound to issue in a… More
Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians." New Criterion, November, 1983.Excerpt : When Lytton Strachey was asked to propose a toast to his Eminent Victorians, he quoted an eminent Victorian biographer: “When I hear men called ‘judicious’ I suspect them;… More
Denigrating the Rule of Reason
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Denigrating the Rule of Reason." Harpers Magazine. April, 1984.PDF [subscribers only] through Harper’s.
The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 1984. The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age. New York: Knopf.Review on Amazon: When did poverty cease to be a ‘natural’ condition and become a ‘social problem’? When did the pauper become distinguished from the poor? What… More
Review: The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Fraser, Derek. Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies 17, no. 2. 1985.Abstract: On the face of it there is much that is familiar in Professor Himmelfarb’s thoughtful and ambitious book. Seeking to elucidate the idea of poverty in early industrial… More
Review: The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Labour / Le Travail 17. 1986.Abstract: WIDELY-PRAISED, this text explores the ideas of those nineteenth-century figures whose political and economic commentary related to the poor: Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Jeremy… More
Of Heroes, Villains, and Valets
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Of Heroes, Villains, and Valets." Commentary Magazine. June, 1991.Excerpt: “No man is a hero to his valet.” The dictum is generally attributed to the Duke of Condé in the reign of Louis XIV. Hegel amplified it to read: “No man is a hero to his… More
The Abyss Revisited
–Abstract: A NOW CLASSIC ESSAY, “On the Teaching of Modern Literature,” Lionel Trilling described his students’ response to his own course on modern literature. I asked… More
A Neo-Luddite on the Internet
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "A Neo-Luddite on the Internet." Prospect Magazine. December, 1996.Excerpt: On the subject of our latest technological revolution, cyberspace, I am a neo-Luddite. Not a true Luddite; my Luddism is qualified, compromised. I revel in the word-processor; I am… More
On the Future of Conservatism
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "On the Future of Conservatism." Commentary Magazine. February, 1997.Excerpt: The November 1996 election and a number of other recent events have offered an opportunity for reassessment among conservatives. At issue is not only the meaning of the election… More
The Paradox of Thomas Carlyle: How to Read a Provocateur and Why We Should
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Paradox of Thomas Carlyle: How to Read a Provocateur and Why We Should." The Weekly Standard, February 24, 1997.Excerpt: More than half a century ago, Lionel Trilling wrote an essay on T. S. Eliot’s The Idea of a Christian Society, calling upon his liberal and Marxist friends to be more… More
Professor Narcissus
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Professor Narcissus." The Weekly Standard, June 2, 1997.Excerpt: Not so long ago, it was TV talk shows that were being excoriated for their wanton exhibitionism as they competed for the honor of producing the most brazen or degrading revelation… More
The Age of Philanthropy
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Age of Philanthropy." The Wilson Quarterly (1976-) 21, no. 2. 1997.Abstract: Cival society” has become the rallying cry of liberals and conservatives alike, especially in the wake of the recent reform of the welfare system. The devolution of welfare… More
Revolution in the Library
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Revolution in the Library." The American Scholar 66, no. 2. 1997.Access through JSTOR: Revolution in the Library
Beyond Method
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Beyond Method". What's Happened to the Humanities? Edited by Kernan Alvin. Princeton University Press, 1997.Abstract: For the journalist, the medium is the message. For the scholar, the method is the message. On this one proposition, traditional and nontraditional scholars may agree. Methodology… More
Review: Gertrude Himmelfarb on The Victorians and Ourselves
– Beum, Robert. "Gertrude Himmelfarb on The Victorians and Ourselves." The Sewanee Review 105, no. 2. 1997.Abstract: Gertrude Himmelfarb probably knows more about Victorian England than anyone alive. She knows the era’s many defamers no less intimately and has faced them all along as a… More
“A Man’s Own Household His Enemies”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "A Man’s Own Household His Enemies." Commentary Magazine. July/August, 1999.Excerpt: A passage in the Talmud reads: Rabbi Eliezer the Great said: . . . As the footsteps of the messiah approach, shamelessness will spread. . . . Schoolrooms will be used for lechery,… More
Lord Acton: in Pursuit of First Principles
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Lord Acton: in Pursuit of First Principles." New Criterion. June, 2000.Excerpt: Almost fifty years ago, introducing my biography of Lord Acton, I wrote: “He is of this age, more than of his. He is, indeed, one of our great contemporaries.” A decade and a… More
The Moral Imagination From Edmund Burke to Lionel Trilling
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 2006. The Moral Imagination From Edmund Burke to Lionel Trilling. Ivan R. Dee.Abstract: Chapter One Edmund Burke Apologist for Judaism? * One of the most moving experiences in my teaching career occurred after a seminar discussion of Edmund… More
Glorious, Indeed: What the English Revolution of 1688 Meant
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Glorious, Indeed: What the English Revolution of 1688 Meant." The Weekly Standard, July 23, 2007.Excerpt: Michael Barone is a distinguished political analyst, commentator, journalist, and occasional historian, the author of two books on recent American history. He has now ventured on a… More
Look back and learn what’s bright and good…
– Feigel, Lara. "Look back and learn what's bright and good..." The Guardian. 2008Abstract: The roads to modernity is an intelligent history of the Enlightenments in Britain, France and America that masks a contemporary political manifesto. Gertrude Himmelfarb emphasises… More
Reflections on Burke’s Reflections
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Reflections on Burke's Reflections." New Criterion, February, 2009.Excerpt: Edmund Burke was, and still is, a provocative thinker—a provocation in his own day, as in ours. At a time when most right-minded (which is to say, left-inclined) English literati… More
Sense and Sensibility: No Good Deed of Hume’s went Unpunished by Rousseau
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Sense and Sensibility: No Good Deed of Hume's went Unpunished by Rousseau." The Weekly Standard, March 30, 2009.Excerpt: “No man is a hero to his valet,” the old adage goes. Nor to his biographer. And eminent men–poets, statesmen, or philosophers–are all the more vulnerable.… More
Our Dignified Constitution: Fourth of July Reflections on the Queen’s Jubilee
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Our Dignified Constitution: Fourth of July Reflections on the Queen’s Jubilee." The Weekly Standard, July 16, 2012.Excerpt: It was perhaps inevitable that our Fourth of July celebrations last week might have seemed anti-climactic after the four-day festivities a month ago accompanying the Queen’s… More
The Victorian Lady: Margaret Thatcher’s Virtues
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Victorian Lady: Margaret Thatcher's Virtues." The Weekly Standard, April 22, 2013.Excerpt: I was at a reception at the British embassy here in Washington in the early 1990s, I believe, when I was introduced to Margaret Thatcher by John O’Sullivan, her friend and former… More
The French Connection: How the Revolution, and Two Thinkers, Bequeathed Us ‘Right’ and ‘Left’
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The French Connection: How the Revolution, and Two Thinkers, Bequeathed Us ‘Right’ and ‘Left’." The Weekly Standard, December 9, 2013.Excerpt: Hard cases, it is said, make bad law. So, too, extreme situations make bad policy and worse philosophy. The French Revolution was just such a situation; compared with the French,… More
Winston vs. the Webbs: A Century-old Precursor to the Obamacare Debate
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Winston vs. the Webbs: A Century-old Precursor to the Obamacare Debate." The Weekly Standard, April 21, 2014.Excerpt: The debate over Obamacare may remind a student of British history of the debate in Britain over the National Insurance Act of 1911, which was in effect until the initiation of the… More
Evolution and Ethics, Revisited
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Evolution and Ethics, Revisited." The New Atlantis, no. 42. 2014.Excerpt: That is John Henry Newman in The Idea of a University (1852) referring to the sciences of his day, which threatened to dominate and even overwhelm theological education in the… More
From Robespierre to ISIS: Edmund Burke’s War on Terror—and Ours
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "From Robespierre to ISIS: Edmund Burke’s War on Terror—and Ours." The Weekly Standard, September, 29 2014.Excerpt: he war on terror is over, the president assured us a year ago. Now, we are told, that war is very much with us and will be pursued with all due diligence. The president was… More
Commentary
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton." The Journal of Modern History 21, no. 4. 1949.Abstract: Among the great number of recent writings on Mill, this book is distinguished by its originality, and even where there is disagreement, one is refreshed by an encounter with an… More
The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton." The Journal of Modern History 21, no. 4. 1949.Abstract: LORD ACTON once complained that he ~agreed with no one and no one Li agreed with him. This should serve as a counsel of caution to his present-day interpreters. In the flush of… More
Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth, by Norbert Wiener
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth, by Norbert Wiener." Commentary Magazine, May, 1953.Excerpt: One of the famous exhibits in the 19th century’s showcase of infant prodigies is the four-year-old Macaulay who, when asked how he was feeling after having been scalded, replied:… More
Book Edited: On Population
– Malthus, Thomas Robert. 1960. On Population, New York: Modern Library.Read online on Natlib.govt.nz (Request online): On population. Buy hardcopy on Amazon.com: On population.
Name and Address, by T. S. Matthews
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Name and Address, by T. S. Matthews." Commentary Magazine, July, 1960.Excerpt: Some time ago there was an exchange program for English and American journalists, in the course of which a member of the staff of the Economist was briefly attached to Time.… More
The Politics of Democracy: The English Reform Act of 1867
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Politics of Democracy: The English Reform Act of 1867." Journal of British Studies 6, no. 1. 1966.Abstract: The Reform Act of 1867 was one of the decisive events, perhaps the decisive event, in modern English history. It was this act that transformed England into a democracy and made… More
Beatrice Webb: A Life, 1858-1943, by Kitty Muggeridge and Ruth Adam
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Beatrice Webb: A Life, 1858-1943, by Kitty Muggeridge and Ruth Adam." Commentary Magazine. 1968.Abstract: In an earlier biography, Margaret Cole, a long-time friend and political associate, wrote that Beatrice Webb, like “happy countries,” had “almost no personsonal history.”… More
Bentham Scholarship and the Bentham “Problem”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Bentham Scholarship and the Bentham "Problem"." The Journal of Modern History 41, no. 2. 1969.Abstract: Bentham has finally, indubitably, “made it.” Not as he had hoped to make it in his own time, as the reformer, indeed transformer, of society, law, and philosophy; nor… More
Commitment and Ideology: The Case of the Second Reform Act
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Commitment and Ideology: The Case of the Second Reform Act." Journal of British Studies 9, no. 1. 1969.Abstract: Whatever our differences, I am grateful to F. B. Smith for what must surely be the best academic news of the year: that under- graduates somewhere, if only in Australia, can still… More
The “Dependence of License upon Faith”: Miss Gertrude Himmelfarb on the Second Reform Act
– Smith, F. B. "The "Dependence of License upon Faith": Miss Gertrude Himmelfarb on the Second Reform Act." Journal of British Studies 9, no. 1. 1969.Abstract: When Miss Himmelfarb published “The Politics of Democracy: the English Reform Act of 1867” in this journal in November 1966,1 she drew one courteous protest, the… More
Mayhew’s Poor: A Problem of Identity
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Mayhew's Poor: A Problem of Identity." Victorian Studies 14, no. 3. 1971.Abstract: THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE” WAS AS MUCH A SET TOPIC FOR VICTORIANS as it has since become for historians.’ It was the subject of Royal Com- mission Reports and… More
The Unknown Mayhew, by Eileen Yeo and E.P. Thompson
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Unknown Mayhew, by Eileen Yeo and E.P. Thompson." Commentary Magazine. 1971.Abstract: The historian who does not subscribe to the creed of “relevance,” who believes, indeed, that the best history is written without thought of contemporary relevance, is… More
Book Edited: On Liberty
– Mil, John Stuart. 1974. On Liberty. London, United Kingdom: Penguin Books.Abstract: ‘Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.’ To this ‘one very simple principle’ the whole of Mill’s essay On Liberty is… More
The Seventh Hero: Thomas Carlyle and the Theory of Radical Activism, by Philip Rosenberg
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Seventh Hero: Thomas Carlyle and the Theory of Radical Activism, by Philip Rosenberg." Commentary Magazine, September, 1974.Excerpt: While I am defending Hook, I might take the occasion to defend others of Carlyle’s biographers and commentators from Rosenberg’s aspersions. He says, for example, that… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism. The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Ten, C. L. Political Theory 3, no. 3. 1975.Abstract: Professor Himmelfarb argues that the essay On Liberty conflicts with nearly everything else Mill wrote except his essays on women. Whereas the Mill of On Liberty propounded and… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Geiger, George R. The Antioch Review 33, no. 2. 1975.Abstract: Mill’s “On Liberty” has been, in many ways, the most provocative and influential essay in the entire area of individual freedom. The opening sentence itself,… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Rothblatt, Sheldon. Victorian Studies 20, no. 1. 1976.Abstract: IN THE LAST TWO YEARS AT LEAST THREE major books on John Stuart Mill have appeared, not to mention the annual outpour- ing of essays and articles on this or that aspect of his… More
The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, by Owen Chadwick
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, by Owen Chadwick." Commentary Magazine. 1976.Abstract: At the height of his campaign against Christianity, Voltaire took to concluding his letters with the motto, “Ecrasez l’infâme,” often abbreviated as “Ecr. linf.”… More
Reply to Louis B. Zimmer on Mill’s ‘Negative Argument’
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Reply to Louis B. Zimmer on Mill's 'Negative Argument'." Journal of British Studies 17, no. 1. 1977.Abstract: Dr. Zimmer’s misreading of my book on Mill is far less important than his misreading of Mill himself. Let me dispose of the lesser issue first. I did not “fault”… More
In Defense of the Two Cultures
– HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. "In Defense of the Two Cultures." The American Scholar50, no. 4. 1981.Abstract: Next year will be the centenary of Charles Darwin’s death, and the occasion will, no doubt, be properly memorialized. But it will be a very different kind of occasion from… More
William Cobbett: “An English episode”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The 'New History'." New Criterion, October, 1982.Excerpt: The English have had a penchant for the most unlikely heros, heros they’ve honored more—in the classical meaning of that much abused phrase—in the breach than in the… More
Who now reads Macaulay?
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Who now reads Macaulay?" New Criterion, December, 1982.Excerpt: Who now reads Bolingbroke?” Burke asked, thus casually, irrevocably, consigning him to the ash-heap of history. So the modern historian may be tempted to ask, “Who now reads… More
The Englishness of England
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Englishness of England." New Criterion, May 1983.Excerpt: Reviewing The English World in the Times Literary Supplement, the historian Theodore Zeldin wrote that it confirmed his view that “a national perspective cannot be sustained in… More
Engels in Manchester: Inventing the Proletariat
– HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. "Engels in Manchester: Inventing the Proletariat." The American Scholar 52, no. 4. 1983.Abstract: Frederick Engels, writing in 1845, described Chartism as only one manifestation of the “social war” that was being waged in England, a war that was bound to issue in a… More
Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians." New Criterion, November, 1983.Excerpt : When Lytton Strachey was asked to propose a toast to his Eminent Victorians, he quoted an eminent Victorian biographer: “When I hear men called ‘judicious’ I suspect them;… More
Denigrating the Rule of Reason
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Denigrating the Rule of Reason." Harpers Magazine. April, 1984.PDF [subscribers only] through Harper’s.
The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 1984. The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age. New York: Knopf.Review on Amazon: When did poverty cease to be a ‘natural’ condition and become a ‘social problem’? When did the pauper become distinguished from the poor? What… More
Review: The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Fraser, Derek. Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies 17, no. 2. 1985.Abstract: On the face of it there is much that is familiar in Professor Himmelfarb’s thoughtful and ambitious book. Seeking to elucidate the idea of poverty in early industrial… More
Review: The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Labour / Le Travail 17. 1986.Abstract: WIDELY-PRAISED, this text explores the ideas of those nineteenth-century figures whose political and economic commentary related to the poor: Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Jeremy… More
Of Heroes, Villains, and Valets
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Of Heroes, Villains, and Valets." Commentary Magazine. June, 1991.Excerpt: “No man is a hero to his valet.” The dictum is generally attributed to the Duke of Condé in the reign of Louis XIV. Hegel amplified it to read: “No man is a hero to his… More
The Abyss Revisited
–Abstract: A NOW CLASSIC ESSAY, “On the Teaching of Modern Literature,” Lionel Trilling described his students’ response to his own course on modern literature. I asked… More
A Neo-Luddite on the Internet
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "A Neo-Luddite on the Internet." Prospect Magazine. December, 1996.Excerpt: On the subject of our latest technological revolution, cyberspace, I am a neo-Luddite. Not a true Luddite; my Luddism is qualified, compromised. I revel in the word-processor; I am… More
On the Future of Conservatism
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "On the Future of Conservatism." Commentary Magazine. February, 1997.Excerpt: The November 1996 election and a number of other recent events have offered an opportunity for reassessment among conservatives. At issue is not only the meaning of the election… More
The Paradox of Thomas Carlyle: How to Read a Provocateur and Why We Should
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Paradox of Thomas Carlyle: How to Read a Provocateur and Why We Should." The Weekly Standard, February 24, 1997.Excerpt: More than half a century ago, Lionel Trilling wrote an essay on T. S. Eliot’s The Idea of a Christian Society, calling upon his liberal and Marxist friends to be more… More
Professor Narcissus
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Professor Narcissus." The Weekly Standard, June 2, 1997.Excerpt: Not so long ago, it was TV talk shows that were being excoriated for their wanton exhibitionism as they competed for the honor of producing the most brazen or degrading revelation… More
The Age of Philanthropy
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Age of Philanthropy." The Wilson Quarterly (1976-) 21, no. 2. 1997.Abstract: Cival society” has become the rallying cry of liberals and conservatives alike, especially in the wake of the recent reform of the welfare system. The devolution of welfare… More
Revolution in the Library
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Revolution in the Library." The American Scholar 66, no. 2. 1997.Access through JSTOR: Revolution in the Library
Beyond Method
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Beyond Method". What's Happened to the Humanities? Edited by Kernan Alvin. Princeton University Press, 1997.Abstract: For the journalist, the medium is the message. For the scholar, the method is the message. On this one proposition, traditional and nontraditional scholars may agree. Methodology… More
Review: Gertrude Himmelfarb on The Victorians and Ourselves
– Beum, Robert. "Gertrude Himmelfarb on The Victorians and Ourselves." The Sewanee Review 105, no. 2. 1997.Abstract: Gertrude Himmelfarb probably knows more about Victorian England than anyone alive. She knows the era’s many defamers no less intimately and has faced them all along as a… More
“A Man’s Own Household His Enemies”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "A Man’s Own Household His Enemies." Commentary Magazine. July/August, 1999.Excerpt: A passage in the Talmud reads: Rabbi Eliezer the Great said: . . . As the footsteps of the messiah approach, shamelessness will spread. . . . Schoolrooms will be used for lechery,… More
Lord Acton: in Pursuit of First Principles
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Lord Acton: in Pursuit of First Principles." New Criterion. June, 2000.Excerpt: Almost fifty years ago, introducing my biography of Lord Acton, I wrote: “He is of this age, more than of his. He is, indeed, one of our great contemporaries.” A decade and a… More
The Moral Imagination From Edmund Burke to Lionel Trilling
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 2006. The Moral Imagination From Edmund Burke to Lionel Trilling. Ivan R. Dee.Abstract: Chapter One Edmund Burke Apologist for Judaism? * One of the most moving experiences in my teaching career occurred after a seminar discussion of Edmund… More
Glorious, Indeed: What the English Revolution of 1688 Meant
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Glorious, Indeed: What the English Revolution of 1688 Meant." The Weekly Standard, July 23, 2007.Excerpt: Michael Barone is a distinguished political analyst, commentator, journalist, and occasional historian, the author of two books on recent American history. He has now ventured on a… More
Look back and learn what’s bright and good…
– Feigel, Lara. "Look back and learn what's bright and good..." The Guardian. 2008Abstract: The roads to modernity is an intelligent history of the Enlightenments in Britain, France and America that masks a contemporary political manifesto. Gertrude Himmelfarb emphasises… More
Reflections on Burke’s Reflections
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Reflections on Burke's Reflections." New Criterion, February, 2009.Excerpt: Edmund Burke was, and still is, a provocative thinker—a provocation in his own day, as in ours. At a time when most right-minded (which is to say, left-inclined) English literati… More
Sense and Sensibility: No Good Deed of Hume’s went Unpunished by Rousseau
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Sense and Sensibility: No Good Deed of Hume's went Unpunished by Rousseau." The Weekly Standard, March 30, 2009.Excerpt: “No man is a hero to his valet,” the old adage goes. Nor to his biographer. And eminent men–poets, statesmen, or philosophers–are all the more vulnerable.… More
Our Dignified Constitution: Fourth of July Reflections on the Queen’s Jubilee
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Our Dignified Constitution: Fourth of July Reflections on the Queen’s Jubilee." The Weekly Standard, July 16, 2012.Excerpt: It was perhaps inevitable that our Fourth of July celebrations last week might have seemed anti-climactic after the four-day festivities a month ago accompanying the Queen’s… More
The Victorian Lady: Margaret Thatcher’s Virtues
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Victorian Lady: Margaret Thatcher's Virtues." The Weekly Standard, April 22, 2013.Excerpt: I was at a reception at the British embassy here in Washington in the early 1990s, I believe, when I was introduced to Margaret Thatcher by John O’Sullivan, her friend and former… More
The French Connection: How the Revolution, and Two Thinkers, Bequeathed Us ‘Right’ and ‘Left’
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The French Connection: How the Revolution, and Two Thinkers, Bequeathed Us ‘Right’ and ‘Left’." The Weekly Standard, December 9, 2013.Excerpt: Hard cases, it is said, make bad law. So, too, extreme situations make bad policy and worse philosophy. The French Revolution was just such a situation; compared with the French,… More
Winston vs. the Webbs: A Century-old Precursor to the Obamacare Debate
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Winston vs. the Webbs: A Century-old Precursor to the Obamacare Debate." The Weekly Standard, April 21, 2014.Excerpt: The debate over Obamacare may remind a student of British history of the debate in Britain over the National Insurance Act of 1911, which was in effect until the initiation of the… More
Evolution and Ethics, Revisited
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Evolution and Ethics, Revisited." The New Atlantis, no. 42. 2014.Excerpt: That is John Henry Newman in The Idea of a University (1852) referring to the sciences of his day, which threatened to dominate and even overwhelm theological education in the… More
From Robespierre to ISIS: Edmund Burke’s War on Terror—and Ours
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "From Robespierre to ISIS: Edmund Burke’s War on Terror—and Ours." The Weekly Standard, September, 29 2014.Excerpt: he war on terror is over, the president assured us a year ago. Now, we are told, that war is very much with us and will be pursued with all due diligence. The president was… More
Multimedia
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton." The Journal of Modern History 21, no. 4. 1949.Abstract: Among the great number of recent writings on Mill, this book is distinguished by its originality, and even where there is disagreement, one is refreshed by an encounter with an… More
The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton." The Journal of Modern History 21, no. 4. 1949.Abstract: LORD ACTON once complained that he ~agreed with no one and no one Li agreed with him. This should serve as a counsel of caution to his present-day interpreters. In the flush of… More
Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth, by Norbert Wiener
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth, by Norbert Wiener." Commentary Magazine, May, 1953.Excerpt: One of the famous exhibits in the 19th century’s showcase of infant prodigies is the four-year-old Macaulay who, when asked how he was feeling after having been scalded, replied:… More
Book Edited: On Population
– Malthus, Thomas Robert. 1960. On Population, New York: Modern Library.Read online on Natlib.govt.nz (Request online): On population. Buy hardcopy on Amazon.com: On population.
Name and Address, by T. S. Matthews
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Name and Address, by T. S. Matthews." Commentary Magazine, July, 1960.Excerpt: Some time ago there was an exchange program for English and American journalists, in the course of which a member of the staff of the Economist was briefly attached to Time.… More
The Politics of Democracy: The English Reform Act of 1867
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Politics of Democracy: The English Reform Act of 1867." Journal of British Studies 6, no. 1. 1966.Abstract: The Reform Act of 1867 was one of the decisive events, perhaps the decisive event, in modern English history. It was this act that transformed England into a democracy and made… More
Beatrice Webb: A Life, 1858-1943, by Kitty Muggeridge and Ruth Adam
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Beatrice Webb: A Life, 1858-1943, by Kitty Muggeridge and Ruth Adam." Commentary Magazine. 1968.Abstract: In an earlier biography, Margaret Cole, a long-time friend and political associate, wrote that Beatrice Webb, like “happy countries,” had “almost no personsonal history.”… More
Bentham Scholarship and the Bentham “Problem”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Bentham Scholarship and the Bentham "Problem"." The Journal of Modern History 41, no. 2. 1969.Abstract: Bentham has finally, indubitably, “made it.” Not as he had hoped to make it in his own time, as the reformer, indeed transformer, of society, law, and philosophy; nor… More
Commitment and Ideology: The Case of the Second Reform Act
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Commitment and Ideology: The Case of the Second Reform Act." Journal of British Studies 9, no. 1. 1969.Abstract: Whatever our differences, I am grateful to F. B. Smith for what must surely be the best academic news of the year: that under- graduates somewhere, if only in Australia, can still… More
The “Dependence of License upon Faith”: Miss Gertrude Himmelfarb on the Second Reform Act
– Smith, F. B. "The "Dependence of License upon Faith": Miss Gertrude Himmelfarb on the Second Reform Act." Journal of British Studies 9, no. 1. 1969.Abstract: When Miss Himmelfarb published “The Politics of Democracy: the English Reform Act of 1867” in this journal in November 1966,1 she drew one courteous protest, the… More
Mayhew’s Poor: A Problem of Identity
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Mayhew's Poor: A Problem of Identity." Victorian Studies 14, no. 3. 1971.Abstract: THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE” WAS AS MUCH A SET TOPIC FOR VICTORIANS as it has since become for historians.’ It was the subject of Royal Com- mission Reports and… More
The Unknown Mayhew, by Eileen Yeo and E.P. Thompson
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Unknown Mayhew, by Eileen Yeo and E.P. Thompson." Commentary Magazine. 1971.Abstract: The historian who does not subscribe to the creed of “relevance,” who believes, indeed, that the best history is written without thought of contemporary relevance, is… More
Book Edited: On Liberty
– Mil, John Stuart. 1974. On Liberty. London, United Kingdom: Penguin Books.Abstract: ‘Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.’ To this ‘one very simple principle’ the whole of Mill’s essay On Liberty is… More
The Seventh Hero: Thomas Carlyle and the Theory of Radical Activism, by Philip Rosenberg
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Seventh Hero: Thomas Carlyle and the Theory of Radical Activism, by Philip Rosenberg." Commentary Magazine, September, 1974.Excerpt: While I am defending Hook, I might take the occasion to defend others of Carlyle’s biographers and commentators from Rosenberg’s aspersions. He says, for example, that… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism. The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Ten, C. L. Political Theory 3, no. 3. 1975.Abstract: Professor Himmelfarb argues that the essay On Liberty conflicts with nearly everything else Mill wrote except his essays on women. Whereas the Mill of On Liberty propounded and… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Geiger, George R. The Antioch Review 33, no. 2. 1975.Abstract: Mill’s “On Liberty” has been, in many ways, the most provocative and influential essay in the entire area of individual freedom. The opening sentence itself,… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Rothblatt, Sheldon. Victorian Studies 20, no. 1. 1976.Abstract: IN THE LAST TWO YEARS AT LEAST THREE major books on John Stuart Mill have appeared, not to mention the annual outpour- ing of essays and articles on this or that aspect of his… More
The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, by Owen Chadwick
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, by Owen Chadwick." Commentary Magazine. 1976.Abstract: At the height of his campaign against Christianity, Voltaire took to concluding his letters with the motto, “Ecrasez l’infâme,” often abbreviated as “Ecr. linf.”… More
Reply to Louis B. Zimmer on Mill’s ‘Negative Argument’
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Reply to Louis B. Zimmer on Mill's 'Negative Argument'." Journal of British Studies 17, no. 1. 1977.Abstract: Dr. Zimmer’s misreading of my book on Mill is far less important than his misreading of Mill himself. Let me dispose of the lesser issue first. I did not “fault”… More
In Defense of the Two Cultures
– HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. "In Defense of the Two Cultures." The American Scholar50, no. 4. 1981.Abstract: Next year will be the centenary of Charles Darwin’s death, and the occasion will, no doubt, be properly memorialized. But it will be a very different kind of occasion from… More
William Cobbett: “An English episode”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The 'New History'." New Criterion, October, 1982.Excerpt: The English have had a penchant for the most unlikely heros, heros they’ve honored more—in the classical meaning of that much abused phrase—in the breach than in the… More
Who now reads Macaulay?
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Who now reads Macaulay?" New Criterion, December, 1982.Excerpt: Who now reads Bolingbroke?” Burke asked, thus casually, irrevocably, consigning him to the ash-heap of history. So the modern historian may be tempted to ask, “Who now reads… More
The Englishness of England
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Englishness of England." New Criterion, May 1983.Excerpt: Reviewing The English World in the Times Literary Supplement, the historian Theodore Zeldin wrote that it confirmed his view that “a national perspective cannot be sustained in… More
Engels in Manchester: Inventing the Proletariat
– HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. "Engels in Manchester: Inventing the Proletariat." The American Scholar 52, no. 4. 1983.Abstract: Frederick Engels, writing in 1845, described Chartism as only one manifestation of the “social war” that was being waged in England, a war that was bound to issue in a… More
Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians." New Criterion, November, 1983.Excerpt : When Lytton Strachey was asked to propose a toast to his Eminent Victorians, he quoted an eminent Victorian biographer: “When I hear men called ‘judicious’ I suspect them;… More
Denigrating the Rule of Reason
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Denigrating the Rule of Reason." Harpers Magazine. April, 1984.PDF [subscribers only] through Harper’s.
The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 1984. The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age. New York: Knopf.Review on Amazon: When did poverty cease to be a ‘natural’ condition and become a ‘social problem’? When did the pauper become distinguished from the poor? What… More
Review: The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Fraser, Derek. Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies 17, no. 2. 1985.Abstract: On the face of it there is much that is familiar in Professor Himmelfarb’s thoughtful and ambitious book. Seeking to elucidate the idea of poverty in early industrial… More
Review: The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Labour / Le Travail 17. 1986.Abstract: WIDELY-PRAISED, this text explores the ideas of those nineteenth-century figures whose political and economic commentary related to the poor: Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Jeremy… More
Of Heroes, Villains, and Valets
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Of Heroes, Villains, and Valets." Commentary Magazine. June, 1991.Excerpt: “No man is a hero to his valet.” The dictum is generally attributed to the Duke of Condé in the reign of Louis XIV. Hegel amplified it to read: “No man is a hero to his… More
The Abyss Revisited
–Abstract: A NOW CLASSIC ESSAY, “On the Teaching of Modern Literature,” Lionel Trilling described his students’ response to his own course on modern literature. I asked… More
A Neo-Luddite on the Internet
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "A Neo-Luddite on the Internet." Prospect Magazine. December, 1996.Excerpt: On the subject of our latest technological revolution, cyberspace, I am a neo-Luddite. Not a true Luddite; my Luddism is qualified, compromised. I revel in the word-processor; I am… More
On the Future of Conservatism
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "On the Future of Conservatism." Commentary Magazine. February, 1997.Excerpt: The November 1996 election and a number of other recent events have offered an opportunity for reassessment among conservatives. At issue is not only the meaning of the election… More
The Paradox of Thomas Carlyle: How to Read a Provocateur and Why We Should
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Paradox of Thomas Carlyle: How to Read a Provocateur and Why We Should." The Weekly Standard, February 24, 1997.Excerpt: More than half a century ago, Lionel Trilling wrote an essay on T. S. Eliot’s The Idea of a Christian Society, calling upon his liberal and Marxist friends to be more… More
Professor Narcissus
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Professor Narcissus." The Weekly Standard, June 2, 1997.Excerpt: Not so long ago, it was TV talk shows that were being excoriated for their wanton exhibitionism as they competed for the honor of producing the most brazen or degrading revelation… More
The Age of Philanthropy
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Age of Philanthropy." The Wilson Quarterly (1976-) 21, no. 2. 1997.Abstract: Cival society” has become the rallying cry of liberals and conservatives alike, especially in the wake of the recent reform of the welfare system. The devolution of welfare… More
Revolution in the Library
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Revolution in the Library." The American Scholar 66, no. 2. 1997.Access through JSTOR: Revolution in the Library
Beyond Method
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Beyond Method". What's Happened to the Humanities? Edited by Kernan Alvin. Princeton University Press, 1997.Abstract: For the journalist, the medium is the message. For the scholar, the method is the message. On this one proposition, traditional and nontraditional scholars may agree. Methodology… More
Review: Gertrude Himmelfarb on The Victorians and Ourselves
– Beum, Robert. "Gertrude Himmelfarb on The Victorians and Ourselves." The Sewanee Review 105, no. 2. 1997.Abstract: Gertrude Himmelfarb probably knows more about Victorian England than anyone alive. She knows the era’s many defamers no less intimately and has faced them all along as a… More
“A Man’s Own Household His Enemies”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "A Man’s Own Household His Enemies." Commentary Magazine. July/August, 1999.Excerpt: A passage in the Talmud reads: Rabbi Eliezer the Great said: . . . As the footsteps of the messiah approach, shamelessness will spread. . . . Schoolrooms will be used for lechery,… More
Lord Acton: in Pursuit of First Principles
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Lord Acton: in Pursuit of First Principles." New Criterion. June, 2000.Excerpt: Almost fifty years ago, introducing my biography of Lord Acton, I wrote: “He is of this age, more than of his. He is, indeed, one of our great contemporaries.” A decade and a… More
The Moral Imagination From Edmund Burke to Lionel Trilling
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 2006. The Moral Imagination From Edmund Burke to Lionel Trilling. Ivan R. Dee.Abstract: Chapter One Edmund Burke Apologist for Judaism? * One of the most moving experiences in my teaching career occurred after a seminar discussion of Edmund… More
Glorious, Indeed: What the English Revolution of 1688 Meant
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Glorious, Indeed: What the English Revolution of 1688 Meant." The Weekly Standard, July 23, 2007.Excerpt: Michael Barone is a distinguished political analyst, commentator, journalist, and occasional historian, the author of two books on recent American history. He has now ventured on a… More
Look back and learn what’s bright and good…
– Feigel, Lara. "Look back and learn what's bright and good..." The Guardian. 2008Abstract: The roads to modernity is an intelligent history of the Enlightenments in Britain, France and America that masks a contemporary political manifesto. Gertrude Himmelfarb emphasises… More
Reflections on Burke’s Reflections
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Reflections on Burke's Reflections." New Criterion, February, 2009.Excerpt: Edmund Burke was, and still is, a provocative thinker—a provocation in his own day, as in ours. At a time when most right-minded (which is to say, left-inclined) English literati… More
Sense and Sensibility: No Good Deed of Hume’s went Unpunished by Rousseau
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Sense and Sensibility: No Good Deed of Hume's went Unpunished by Rousseau." The Weekly Standard, March 30, 2009.Excerpt: “No man is a hero to his valet,” the old adage goes. Nor to his biographer. And eminent men–poets, statesmen, or philosophers–are all the more vulnerable.… More
Our Dignified Constitution: Fourth of July Reflections on the Queen’s Jubilee
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Our Dignified Constitution: Fourth of July Reflections on the Queen’s Jubilee." The Weekly Standard, July 16, 2012.Excerpt: It was perhaps inevitable that our Fourth of July celebrations last week might have seemed anti-climactic after the four-day festivities a month ago accompanying the Queen’s… More
The Victorian Lady: Margaret Thatcher’s Virtues
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Victorian Lady: Margaret Thatcher's Virtues." The Weekly Standard, April 22, 2013.Excerpt: I was at a reception at the British embassy here in Washington in the early 1990s, I believe, when I was introduced to Margaret Thatcher by John O’Sullivan, her friend and former… More
The French Connection: How the Revolution, and Two Thinkers, Bequeathed Us ‘Right’ and ‘Left’
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The French Connection: How the Revolution, and Two Thinkers, Bequeathed Us ‘Right’ and ‘Left’." The Weekly Standard, December 9, 2013.Excerpt: Hard cases, it is said, make bad law. So, too, extreme situations make bad policy and worse philosophy. The French Revolution was just such a situation; compared with the French,… More
Winston vs. the Webbs: A Century-old Precursor to the Obamacare Debate
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Winston vs. the Webbs: A Century-old Precursor to the Obamacare Debate." The Weekly Standard, April 21, 2014.Excerpt: The debate over Obamacare may remind a student of British history of the debate in Britain over the National Insurance Act of 1911, which was in effect until the initiation of the… More
Evolution and Ethics, Revisited
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Evolution and Ethics, Revisited." The New Atlantis, no. 42. 2014.Excerpt: That is John Henry Newman in The Idea of a University (1852) referring to the sciences of his day, which threatened to dominate and even overwhelm theological education in the… More
From Robespierre to ISIS: Edmund Burke’s War on Terror—and Ours
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "From Robespierre to ISIS: Edmund Burke’s War on Terror—and Ours." The Weekly Standard, September, 29 2014.Excerpt: he war on terror is over, the president assured us a year ago. Now, we are told, that war is very much with us and will be pursued with all due diligence. The president was… More
Teaching
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton." The Journal of Modern History 21, no. 4. 1949.Abstract: Among the great number of recent writings on Mill, this book is distinguished by its originality, and even where there is disagreement, one is refreshed by an encounter with an… More
The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The American Revolution in the Political Theory of Lord Acton." The Journal of Modern History 21, no. 4. 1949.Abstract: LORD ACTON once complained that he ~agreed with no one and no one Li agreed with him. This should serve as a counsel of caution to his present-day interpreters. In the flush of… More
Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth, by Norbert Wiener
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Ex-Prodigy: My Childhood and Youth, by Norbert Wiener." Commentary Magazine, May, 1953.Excerpt: One of the famous exhibits in the 19th century’s showcase of infant prodigies is the four-year-old Macaulay who, when asked how he was feeling after having been scalded, replied:… More
Book Edited: On Population
– Malthus, Thomas Robert. 1960. On Population, New York: Modern Library.Read online on Natlib.govt.nz (Request online): On population. Buy hardcopy on Amazon.com: On population.
Name and Address, by T. S. Matthews
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Name and Address, by T. S. Matthews." Commentary Magazine, July, 1960.Excerpt: Some time ago there was an exchange program for English and American journalists, in the course of which a member of the staff of the Economist was briefly attached to Time.… More
The Politics of Democracy: The English Reform Act of 1867
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Politics of Democracy: The English Reform Act of 1867." Journal of British Studies 6, no. 1. 1966.Abstract: The Reform Act of 1867 was one of the decisive events, perhaps the decisive event, in modern English history. It was this act that transformed England into a democracy and made… More
Beatrice Webb: A Life, 1858-1943, by Kitty Muggeridge and Ruth Adam
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Beatrice Webb: A Life, 1858-1943, by Kitty Muggeridge and Ruth Adam." Commentary Magazine. 1968.Abstract: In an earlier biography, Margaret Cole, a long-time friend and political associate, wrote that Beatrice Webb, like “happy countries,” had “almost no personsonal history.”… More
Bentham Scholarship and the Bentham “Problem”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Bentham Scholarship and the Bentham "Problem"." The Journal of Modern History 41, no. 2. 1969.Abstract: Bentham has finally, indubitably, “made it.” Not as he had hoped to make it in his own time, as the reformer, indeed transformer, of society, law, and philosophy; nor… More
Commitment and Ideology: The Case of the Second Reform Act
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Commitment and Ideology: The Case of the Second Reform Act." Journal of British Studies 9, no. 1. 1969.Abstract: Whatever our differences, I am grateful to F. B. Smith for what must surely be the best academic news of the year: that under- graduates somewhere, if only in Australia, can still… More
The “Dependence of License upon Faith”: Miss Gertrude Himmelfarb on the Second Reform Act
– Smith, F. B. "The "Dependence of License upon Faith": Miss Gertrude Himmelfarb on the Second Reform Act." Journal of British Studies 9, no. 1. 1969.Abstract: When Miss Himmelfarb published “The Politics of Democracy: the English Reform Act of 1867” in this journal in November 1966,1 she drew one courteous protest, the… More
Mayhew’s Poor: A Problem of Identity
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Mayhew's Poor: A Problem of Identity." Victorian Studies 14, no. 3. 1971.Abstract: THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE” WAS AS MUCH A SET TOPIC FOR VICTORIANS as it has since become for historians.’ It was the subject of Royal Com- mission Reports and… More
The Unknown Mayhew, by Eileen Yeo and E.P. Thompson
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Unknown Mayhew, by Eileen Yeo and E.P. Thompson." Commentary Magazine. 1971.Abstract: The historian who does not subscribe to the creed of “relevance,” who believes, indeed, that the best history is written without thought of contemporary relevance, is… More
Book Edited: On Liberty
– Mil, John Stuart. 1974. On Liberty. London, United Kingdom: Penguin Books.Abstract: ‘Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.’ To this ‘one very simple principle’ the whole of Mill’s essay On Liberty is… More
The Seventh Hero: Thomas Carlyle and the Theory of Radical Activism, by Philip Rosenberg
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Seventh Hero: Thomas Carlyle and the Theory of Radical Activism, by Philip Rosenberg." Commentary Magazine, September, 1974.Excerpt: While I am defending Hook, I might take the occasion to defend others of Carlyle’s biographers and commentators from Rosenberg’s aspersions. He says, for example, that… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism. The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Ten, C. L. Political Theory 3, no. 3. 1975.Abstract: Professor Himmelfarb argues that the essay On Liberty conflicts with nearly everything else Mill wrote except his essays on women. Whereas the Mill of On Liberty propounded and… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Geiger, George R. The Antioch Review 33, no. 2. 1975.Abstract: Mill’s “On Liberty” has been, in many ways, the most provocative and influential essay in the entire area of individual freedom. The opening sentence itself,… More
Review: On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Rothblatt, Sheldon. Victorian Studies 20, no. 1. 1976.Abstract: IN THE LAST TWO YEARS AT LEAST THREE major books on John Stuart Mill have appeared, not to mention the annual outpour- ing of essays and articles on this or that aspect of his… More
The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, by Owen Chadwick
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century, by Owen Chadwick." Commentary Magazine. 1976.Abstract: At the height of his campaign against Christianity, Voltaire took to concluding his letters with the motto, “Ecrasez l’infâme,” often abbreviated as “Ecr. linf.”… More
Reply to Louis B. Zimmer on Mill’s ‘Negative Argument’
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Reply to Louis B. Zimmer on Mill's 'Negative Argument'." Journal of British Studies 17, no. 1. 1977.Abstract: Dr. Zimmer’s misreading of my book on Mill is far less important than his misreading of Mill himself. Let me dispose of the lesser issue first. I did not “fault”… More
In Defense of the Two Cultures
– HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. "In Defense of the Two Cultures." The American Scholar50, no. 4. 1981.Abstract: Next year will be the centenary of Charles Darwin’s death, and the occasion will, no doubt, be properly memorialized. But it will be a very different kind of occasion from… More
William Cobbett: “An English episode”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The 'New History'." New Criterion, October, 1982.Excerpt: The English have had a penchant for the most unlikely heros, heros they’ve honored more—in the classical meaning of that much abused phrase—in the breach than in the… More
Who now reads Macaulay?
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Who now reads Macaulay?" New Criterion, December, 1982.Excerpt: Who now reads Bolingbroke?” Burke asked, thus casually, irrevocably, consigning him to the ash-heap of history. So the modern historian may be tempted to ask, “Who now reads… More
The Englishness of England
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Englishness of England." New Criterion, May 1983.Excerpt: Reviewing The English World in the Times Literary Supplement, the historian Theodore Zeldin wrote that it confirmed his view that “a national perspective cannot be sustained in… More
Engels in Manchester: Inventing the Proletariat
– HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. "Engels in Manchester: Inventing the Proletariat." The American Scholar 52, no. 4. 1983.Abstract: Frederick Engels, writing in 1845, described Chartism as only one manifestation of the “social war” that was being waged in England, a war that was bound to issue in a… More
Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians." New Criterion, November, 1983.Excerpt : When Lytton Strachey was asked to propose a toast to his Eminent Victorians, he quoted an eminent Victorian biographer: “When I hear men called ‘judicious’ I suspect them;… More
Denigrating the Rule of Reason
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Denigrating the Rule of Reason." Harpers Magazine. April, 1984.PDF [subscribers only] through Harper’s.
The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 1984. The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age. New York: Knopf.Review on Amazon: When did poverty cease to be a ‘natural’ condition and become a ‘social problem’? When did the pauper become distinguished from the poor? What… More
Review: The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Fraser, Derek. Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies 17, no. 2. 1985.Abstract: On the face of it there is much that is familiar in Professor Himmelfarb’s thoughtful and ambitious book. Seeking to elucidate the idea of poverty in early industrial… More
Review: The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age by Gertrude Himmelfarb
– Labour / Le Travail 17. 1986.Abstract: WIDELY-PRAISED, this text explores the ideas of those nineteenth-century figures whose political and economic commentary related to the poor: Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Jeremy… More
Of Heroes, Villains, and Valets
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Of Heroes, Villains, and Valets." Commentary Magazine. June, 1991.Excerpt: “No man is a hero to his valet.” The dictum is generally attributed to the Duke of Condé in the reign of Louis XIV. Hegel amplified it to read: “No man is a hero to his… More
The Abyss Revisited
–Abstract: A NOW CLASSIC ESSAY, “On the Teaching of Modern Literature,” Lionel Trilling described his students’ response to his own course on modern literature. I asked… More
A Neo-Luddite on the Internet
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "A Neo-Luddite on the Internet." Prospect Magazine. December, 1996.Excerpt: On the subject of our latest technological revolution, cyberspace, I am a neo-Luddite. Not a true Luddite; my Luddism is qualified, compromised. I revel in the word-processor; I am… More
On the Future of Conservatism
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "On the Future of Conservatism." Commentary Magazine. February, 1997.Excerpt: The November 1996 election and a number of other recent events have offered an opportunity for reassessment among conservatives. At issue is not only the meaning of the election… More
The Paradox of Thomas Carlyle: How to Read a Provocateur and Why We Should
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Paradox of Thomas Carlyle: How to Read a Provocateur and Why We Should." The Weekly Standard, February 24, 1997.Excerpt: More than half a century ago, Lionel Trilling wrote an essay on T. S. Eliot’s The Idea of a Christian Society, calling upon his liberal and Marxist friends to be more… More
Professor Narcissus
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Professor Narcissus." The Weekly Standard, June 2, 1997.Excerpt: Not so long ago, it was TV talk shows that were being excoriated for their wanton exhibitionism as they competed for the honor of producing the most brazen or degrading revelation… More
The Age of Philanthropy
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Age of Philanthropy." The Wilson Quarterly (1976-) 21, no. 2. 1997.Abstract: Cival society” has become the rallying cry of liberals and conservatives alike, especially in the wake of the recent reform of the welfare system. The devolution of welfare… More
Revolution in the Library
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Revolution in the Library." The American Scholar 66, no. 2. 1997.Access through JSTOR: Revolution in the Library
Beyond Method
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Beyond Method". What's Happened to the Humanities? Edited by Kernan Alvin. Princeton University Press, 1997.Abstract: For the journalist, the medium is the message. For the scholar, the method is the message. On this one proposition, traditional and nontraditional scholars may agree. Methodology… More
Review: Gertrude Himmelfarb on The Victorians and Ourselves
– Beum, Robert. "Gertrude Himmelfarb on The Victorians and Ourselves." The Sewanee Review 105, no. 2. 1997.Abstract: Gertrude Himmelfarb probably knows more about Victorian England than anyone alive. She knows the era’s many defamers no less intimately and has faced them all along as a… More
“A Man’s Own Household His Enemies”
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "A Man’s Own Household His Enemies." Commentary Magazine. July/August, 1999.Excerpt: A passage in the Talmud reads: Rabbi Eliezer the Great said: . . . As the footsteps of the messiah approach, shamelessness will spread. . . . Schoolrooms will be used for lechery,… More
Lord Acton: in Pursuit of First Principles
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Lord Acton: in Pursuit of First Principles." New Criterion. June, 2000.Excerpt: Almost fifty years ago, introducing my biography of Lord Acton, I wrote: “He is of this age, more than of his. He is, indeed, one of our great contemporaries.” A decade and a… More
The Moral Imagination From Edmund Burke to Lionel Trilling
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. 2006. The Moral Imagination From Edmund Burke to Lionel Trilling. Ivan R. Dee.Abstract: Chapter One Edmund Burke Apologist for Judaism? * One of the most moving experiences in my teaching career occurred after a seminar discussion of Edmund… More
Glorious, Indeed: What the English Revolution of 1688 Meant
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Glorious, Indeed: What the English Revolution of 1688 Meant." The Weekly Standard, July 23, 2007.Excerpt: Michael Barone is a distinguished political analyst, commentator, journalist, and occasional historian, the author of two books on recent American history. He has now ventured on a… More
Look back and learn what’s bright and good…
– Feigel, Lara. "Look back and learn what's bright and good..." The Guardian. 2008Abstract: The roads to modernity is an intelligent history of the Enlightenments in Britain, France and America that masks a contemporary political manifesto. Gertrude Himmelfarb emphasises… More
Reflections on Burke’s Reflections
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Reflections on Burke's Reflections." New Criterion, February, 2009.Excerpt: Edmund Burke was, and still is, a provocative thinker—a provocation in his own day, as in ours. At a time when most right-minded (which is to say, left-inclined) English literati… More
Sense and Sensibility: No Good Deed of Hume’s went Unpunished by Rousseau
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Sense and Sensibility: No Good Deed of Hume's went Unpunished by Rousseau." The Weekly Standard, March 30, 2009.Excerpt: “No man is a hero to his valet,” the old adage goes. Nor to his biographer. And eminent men–poets, statesmen, or philosophers–are all the more vulnerable.… More
Our Dignified Constitution: Fourth of July Reflections on the Queen’s Jubilee
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Our Dignified Constitution: Fourth of July Reflections on the Queen’s Jubilee." The Weekly Standard, July 16, 2012.Excerpt: It was perhaps inevitable that our Fourth of July celebrations last week might have seemed anti-climactic after the four-day festivities a month ago accompanying the Queen’s… More
The Victorian Lady: Margaret Thatcher’s Virtues
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Victorian Lady: Margaret Thatcher's Virtues." The Weekly Standard, April 22, 2013.Excerpt: I was at a reception at the British embassy here in Washington in the early 1990s, I believe, when I was introduced to Margaret Thatcher by John O’Sullivan, her friend and former… More
The French Connection: How the Revolution, and Two Thinkers, Bequeathed Us ‘Right’ and ‘Left’
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The French Connection: How the Revolution, and Two Thinkers, Bequeathed Us ‘Right’ and ‘Left’." The Weekly Standard, December 9, 2013.Excerpt: Hard cases, it is said, make bad law. So, too, extreme situations make bad policy and worse philosophy. The French Revolution was just such a situation; compared with the French,… More
Winston vs. the Webbs: A Century-old Precursor to the Obamacare Debate
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Winston vs. the Webbs: A Century-old Precursor to the Obamacare Debate." The Weekly Standard, April 21, 2014.Excerpt: The debate over Obamacare may remind a student of British history of the debate in Britain over the National Insurance Act of 1911, which was in effect until the initiation of the… More
Evolution and Ethics, Revisited
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Evolution and Ethics, Revisited." The New Atlantis, no. 42. 2014.Excerpt: That is John Henry Newman in The Idea of a University (1852) referring to the sciences of his day, which threatened to dominate and even overwhelm theological education in the… More
From Robespierre to ISIS: Edmund Burke’s War on Terror—and Ours
– Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "From Robespierre to ISIS: Edmund Burke’s War on Terror—and Ours." The Weekly Standard, September, 29 2014.Excerpt: he war on terror is over, the president assured us a year ago. Now, we are told, that war is very much with us and will be pursued with all due diligence. The president was… More