Herbert Butterfield

Herbert Butterfield was born on 7 October 1900 in Oxenhope, England. A historian, he wrote The Whig Interpretation of History (1931), a plea to understand ideas in their historical contexts. Elected to a Peterhouse Fellowship at Cambridge in 1923, he also served as a Methodist pastor until 1936. He has elected Professor of Modern History in 1944, Vice-Chancellor in 1959, Regius Professor in 1963, and retied as Master at Peterhouse in 1968. During the 1950s, he was Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. 

Fellow of the British Academy in 1965 and knighted in 1968, he was awarded thirteen honorary degrees. Editor of the Cambridge Historical Journal, he also served as external examiner to the National University of Ireland. Notable works include The Historical Novel (1924), The Peace Tactics of Napoleon, 1806–8 (1929), The Englishman and His History (1944), Christianity and History (1949), The Origins of Modern Science, 1300–1800 (1949), Christianity in European History (1951), Liberty in the Modern World (1952), Christianity, Diplomacy and War (1952), and Man on His Past (1955).