Ives, Eric William 1931–

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Ives, Eric William 1931–

(E.W. Ives)

PERSONAL:

Born July 12, 1931, in Romford, England; son of Frederick Henry Ives and Ethel Lily Halls; married Christine Ruth, April 1, 1961; children: Susan, John. Ethnicity: "British." Education: Attended Brentwood School; University of London, Queen Mary College, B.A., Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Office—School of History, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, England.

CAREER:

Writer, historian, and educator. University of Liverpool, England, assistant lecturer, 1961-62, lecturer of modern history, 1962-68; University of Birmingham, England, lecturer, 1968-72, senior lecturer of modern history, 1972-83, reader, 1983-87, professor of English history, 1987-97, dean of the Faculty of Arts, 1987-89, pro-vice chancellor, 1989-93, head of the Department of Modern History, 1994-97, professor emeritus, 1997—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Shakespeare Institute fellow, University of Birmingham, England, 1958-61; Institute for Advanced Research in the Humanities fellow, University of Birmingham, 1997.

WRITINGS:

The English Revolution, 1600-1660; Essays Edited by E.W. Ives, Edward Arnold (London, England), 1968.

(Editor) Letters and Accounts of William Brereton of Malpas, Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire (Old Woking, England), 1976.

Wealth and Power in Tudor England: Essays Presented to S.T. Bindoff, Athlone Press (London, England), 1978.

Faction in Tudor England, Historical Association (London, England), 1979.

God in History, Lion Publishing (Tring, Herts, England), 1979.

(Editor, with A.H. Manchester) Law, Litigants, and the Legal Profession: Papers Presented to the Fourth British Legal History Conference at the University of Birmingham, 10-13 July 1979, Royal Historical Society (London, England), 1983.

The Common Lawyers of Pre-Reformation England: Thomas Kebell, a Case Study, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1983.

Anne Boleyn, Blackwell Publishing (New York, NY), 1986.

(With others) The First Civic University: Birmingham 1880-1980; An Introductory History, University of Birmingham Press (Birmingham, England), 2000.

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: "The Most Happy," Blackwell Publishing (Malden, MA), 2004.

Henry VIII, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including Historical Journal, Modern Language Review, Shakespeare Survey, and Historical Research.

SIDELIGHTS:

English historian Eric William Ives published a treatise on legal history in 1983 titled The Common Lawyers of Pre-Reformation England: Thomas Kebell, a Case Study. The text "gives a rounded account of the English legal profession at one of its most significant stages," according to Ralph V. Turner in his review for the American Journal of Legal History. Turner pointed out that Ives uses "Thomas Kebell's career as a framework for his account of late medieval lawyers," and he observed:

"The book includes useful aids for students who wish to investigate further the common lawyers at the end of the Middle Ages." Utilizing source materials like letters and legal opinions, Ives includes information regarding the rapid social mobility achieved by English lawyers during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, primarily due to the wealth incurred by the demand of their services, and the ensuing negativity attached to the profession as a consequence of their success.

Within The First Civic University: Birmingham 1880-1980; An Introductory History, Ives continues his focus on English municipal history through the exploration of Birmingham's major educational institution. G.R. Batho, in a contribution to the British Journal of Educational Studies, called the narrative "a holistic approach to the history of Mason College and its noble successor the University of Birmingham." Ives provides information regarding student populations, job placement, recruitment, curriculum, and teaching methodologies throughout a hundred-year period. Batho explained the shift from community to bureaucracy within the university and stated: "The University was established primarily for the locality and at first directed largely by the local community. As central government has become the main controller of higher education, local involvement has in consequence declined, which in some ways has been regrettable." A portion of the text concentrates upon the university's community involvements and assistance during World War I and II and the changes in law and university policy that expanded higher educational access for a much larger populace. Batho concluded: "This volume is a perceptive study of the evolution of one major university which has relevance for the development of higher education in Britain as a whole and will be of interest to anyone intrigued by the role of higher education in our society."

Returning to Tudor England for historical subject matter, Ives's 2004 publication, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: "The Most Happy," a follow-up to his 1986 Anne Boleyn, offers a detailed account of the life of Henry the VIII's second wife. Peter Marshall, in a review published on the Web site of the Institute of Historical Research, commented that Ives incorporates in his narrative "the staggering audacity of Cromwell's plan, … the moral complacency of an entire political system," and "a fully rounded and persuasive account of Anne's life as a whole." The biography charts the king's motivations behind the political maneuvering that gave Anne Boleyn the opportunity to become queen of England. Books & Culture contributor Brooke Allen found that Ives casts a "version of her as a feminist icon" with his assertions that Anne was responsible for lingering political changes affecting England well into the next rule. Furthermore, in his article for Renaissance Quarterly, Dale Hoak observed that Ives draws upon the "several notable contributions to Anne Boleyn studies," specifically those by Retha Warnicke, Antonia Fraser, and David Starkey.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, June 1, 1984, J.G. Bellamy, review of The Common Lawyers of Pre-Reformation England: Thomas Kebell, a Case Study, p. 756; June 1, 2005, Retha M. Warnicke, review of The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: "The Most Happy," p. 858.

American Journal of Legal History, July 1, 1985, Ralph V. Turner, review of The Common Lawyers of Pre-Reformation England, p. 276.

Atlantis, Revista de la Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos, June 1, 2007, Paula de Pando Mena, review of The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, p. 187.

Books & Culture, May 1, 2005, Brooke Allen, "The Rise & Fall of Anne Boleyn," p. 30.

British Journal of Educational Studies, March, 2001, G.R. Batho, review of The First Civic University: Birmingham 1880-1980; An Introductory History, p. 87.

Cambridge Law Journal, April 1, 1984, J.H. Baker, review of The Common Lawyers of Pre-Reformation England, p. 180.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, April 1, 2005, B. Lowe, review of The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, p. 1463.

English Historical Review, April 1, 1987, C.W. Brooks, review of Law, Litigants, and the Legal Profession: Papers Presented to the Fourth British Legal History Conference at the University of Birmingham, 10-13 July 1979, p. 480; October 1, 1989, Susan Brigden, review of Anne Boleyn, p. 1023; September 1, 2005, Peter Gwyn, review of The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, p. 1081.

History: The Journal of the Historical Association, February 1, 1988, A.G.R. Smith, review of Anne Boleyn, p. 133.

Journal of Legal History, September 1, 1984, T.G. Watkin, review of Law, Litigants, and the Legal Profession, p. 183; May 1, 1986, A.W.P. Sampson, review of The Common Lawyers of Pre-Reformation England, p. 110.

Law and History Review, September 22, 1984, David Ibbetson, review of The Common Lawyers of Pre-Reformation England, p. 330.

Law Quarterly Review, April 1, 1984, Albert Kiralfy, review of The Common Lawyers of Pre-Reformation England, p. 333.

London Review of Books, November 18, 2004, Patrick Collinson, "La Bolaing," p. 9.

Modern Law Review, May 1, 1984, Alan Harding, review of The Common Lawyers of Pre-Reformation England, p. 381.

Publishers Weekly, October 17, 1986, Genevieve Stuttaford, review of Anne Boleyn, p. 47.

Reference & Research Book News, November 1, 2005, review of The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn.

Renaissance Quarterly, March 22, 2006, Dale Hoak, review of The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, p. 255.

Spectator, July 31, 2004, James P. Carley, "That Woman Again," p. 30.