Hunt, Tristram 1974-

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HUNT, Tristram 1974-

PERSONAL:

Born 1974. Education: Trinity College, Cambridge, Ph.D. (history); additional study at University of Chicago, IL.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Queen Mary College, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Historian, writer, and television host. Queen Mary College, London, London, England, lecturer in history; Institute for Public Policy Research, London, fellow. Worked for Demos (think tank), London; worked for U.K. Labour Party during Tony Blair's campaign for prime minister, 1996-97; presenter of BBC television documentaries on the English Civil War, and on Sir Isaac Newton, both 2002.

WRITINGS:

The English Civil War at First Hand, Weidenfeld and Nicolson (London, England), 2002.

Coauthor, with Derek Draper, of Blair's 100 Days.

Contributor to periodicals, including New Statesman and Management Today.

SIDELIGHTS:

Tristram Hunt became well known across the United Kingdom while still in his twenties as the host of a multipart television documentary on the English Civil War. Hunt, also noted for his criticism of other historians and his outspoken liberal political views, proved an attractive, charismatic presence on the television series, in the opinion of several observers. The Civil War, fought in the mid-seventeenth century, saw battles between the Cavaliers, who supported the royal family, and the Roundheads, allied with Parliament and conservative reformer Oliver Cromwell; it claimed 250,000 lives. Taxes and royal power are generally considered the war's key issues. On his program, however, Hunt argued that the conflict was more complex—a three-way struggle involving England, Scotland, and Ireland, and fired by Anglican Church reforms that some believed would move the church too close to Roman Catholicism.

Hunt's first book, The English Civil War at First Hand, is a companion to that series. As the title implies, it gathers accounts by eyewitnesses to the war's battles and related events, such as the execution of King Charles I. These include diaries, court records, and other documents, some familiar to modern audiences, others not so. The book also contains numerous illustrations. A Contemporary Review contributor felt that the book provides "large chunks of first-hand observation," although he did not think it would lead readers to a deeper understanding of the war. Times Literary Supplement reviewer Ronald Hutton voiced a similar reservation, but called the volume "probably the best picture-book on the Civil War for a generation."