20. Retrospective thoughts
SIGNPOST: Ending the journey together
20.1 From PJC
Co-writing is an instructive experience. Among many things, it teaches the value of comparing rival perspectives. Tim Hitchcock and I agree on our deepest and most fundamental objectives. Yet we disagree about the pace of change. Tim Hitchcock (who switched country and culture when moving from the USA to study for an Oxford doctorate) maintains a comparative outsider’s view of the British university scene. He tends to see the sclerosis of slow change.
By contrast, as someone more familiar with the system, I see it as pluralist and diversified. It has areas of deep traditionalism but also areas of innovation. It has room for experimentation in courses and teaching styles. In the twentieth century, moreover, the British system began to admit (in sequence) working-class men, women and people of diverse heritage. Further democratization is still needed. And not all innovations are beneficial. Yet systems are open to change, both in the UK and worldwide.
Balancing my relative optimism with Tim Hitchcock’s critical impatience generated keen debates between us. The outcome has improved this Guide. It requires a good mix of hope and haste to demystify the world of historical research – and to invite all comers to join.
20.2 From TH
History is a community project. There may be scholars out there who sit alone in an archive and are happy in their isolation, but most of us crave an audience for our work, and a conversation.
This book has been created as a conversation between Penelope Corfield and myself. As she mentions, we often disagreed; but, as I don’t agree with any of my best friends about much, that struck me as a good thing! And I believe this volume is better for it. The resulting confection combines my rather jaundiced and occasionally cynical view of the historical profession in the UK with Penelope Corfield’s infectious enthusiasm and sheer intellectual joy at the wonder of research and writing. The combination creates a more balanced introduction than either of us could create on our own.
This book has also been a conversation of a different sort, with all the thousands of researchers who have attended University of London’s seminar on British History in the Long Eighteenth Century over the last four decades. For both of us, I believe the seminar forms an intellectual home, and the primary site of our shared academic community. And in the writing, the voices of all those friends and interlocutors have been whispering in my ear.