Jeffreys-Jones, Rhodri 1942-

views updated

JEFFREYS-JONES, Rhodri 1942-

PERSONAL: Born July 28, 1942, in Carmarthen, Wales; son of Thomas Ieuan (a college president) and Nancy (Watkins) Jeffreys-Jones; married Janetta Carolina Minkiewicz (a teacher), August 15, 1970; children: Gwenda Ludwika, Marie Rowena. Education: University College of Wales at Aberystwyth, B.A., 1963; graduate study at University of Michigan, 1964–65, and Harvard University, 1965–66; Cambridge University, Ph.D., 1967. Hobbies and other interests: Vegetable gardening, Welsh affairs, squash rackets, snooker, rugby football.

ADDRESSES: Home—9 Ethel Ter., Edinburgh ENI0 5NB, Scotland. Office—Department of History, University of Edinburgh, 50 George Sq., Edinburgh EH8 9JY, Scotland. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, tutor in history, 1966–67; University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, lecturer, 1967–83, senior lecturer in history, 1983–, convenor of North American Studies Program, 1974–77. Council candidate for Labour Party, 1971. Director of Scottish Universities Summer School, 1976.

MEMBER: British Association for American Studies, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, Study Group on Intelligence.

AWARDS, HONORS: Award from Institute for Historical Research's Twenty-seven Foundation, 1969; fellow of Charles Warren Center at Harvard University, 1971–72; British Academy overseas fellowship, 1975; grants from Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, 1975, 1980, 1983, Ford, Truman, and Johnson Presidential Libraries, 1983, and American Philosophical Society, 1984.

WRITINGS:

American Espionage: From Secret Service to CIA, Free Press (New York, NY), 1977.

Violence and Reform in American History, New Viewpoints (New York, NY), 1978.

(Editor, with Bruce Collins) The Growth of Federal Power in American History, Northern Illinois University Press (DeKalb, IL), 1983.

(Editor) Eagle against Empire: American Opposition to European Imperialism, 1914–1982, University of Provence Press for European Association for American Studies (Aix-en-Provence, France), 1983.

(Contributor) Lewis Hanke, editor, Guide to the Study of United States History outside the U.S., 1945–1980, five volumes, Kraus International, 1985.

The CIA and American Democracy, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1989, reprinted with new preface by the author, 1998.

(Editor, with Andrew Lownie) North American Spies: New Revisionist Essays, University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, KS), 1991.

Changing Differences: Women and the Shaping of American Foreign Policy, 1917–1994, Rutgers University Press (New Brunswick, NJ), 1995.

(Editor, with Christopher Andrew) Eternal Vigilance?: 50 Years of the CIA, Frank Cass (Portland, OR), 1997.

Peace Now!: American Society and the Ending of the Vietnam War, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1999.

(Editor, with David Stafford) American-British-Canadian Intelligence Relations, 1939–2000, Frank Cass (Portland, OR), 2000.

Cloak and Dollar: A History of American Secret Intelligence, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2002.

Contributor to various books and journals in Europe, Canada, the United States, and Latin America.

SIDELIGHTS: Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones once wrote: "I am interested in furthering British expertise in the fields of American history and politics. Such expertise is essential to a continuing good relationship between Great Britain and the United States. Too often in the past, British media have broadcast without question American opinions and self-criticisms. Yet there is scope for an independent, British critique of American affairs, particularly concerning the relationship between domestic social problems and external policy, and particularly at the present juncture, when U.S. conservationists, wage-earners, consumers, and states-men find themselves confronted with scarcities that have traditionally affected Britain and European countries."

From his base at the University of Edinburgh, Jeffreys-Jones has established himself as a noted scholar of American espionage and modern American social history. In books such as Changing Differences: Women and the Shaping of American Foreign Policy, 1917–1994 and Peace Now!: American Society and the Ending of the Vietnam War, Jeffreys-Jones explores the contributions women and minorities have made to governmental decisions, especially in wartime. In a Journal of Women's History review of Changing Differences, Anne Marie Pois praised Jeffreys-Jones for offering "fresh understandings of peace as a women's issue" and demonstrating that "the politics of peace, when broadly defined, have been an integral part of women's struggle for progressive change at every political level." Peace Now! examines previously neglected aspects of the anti-Vietnam War movement. The author reveals the activities of women, minorities, and organized labor in the political lobbying to end the war, noting that these groups received less attention than the white male college students who spoke against the conflict. Commonweal contributor Chris Appy noted: "Jeffreys-Jones deserves praise for documenting the diversity of the antiwar movement…. This work amply demonstrates that all kinds of people opposed the war—not only radical students, but significant numbers of blue-collar workers, African-Americans, homemakers, clergy, businessmen, and Vietnam veterans."

A Publishers Weekly reviewer described Jeffreys-Jones as "a leading authority on the history of American intelligence." Jeffreys-Jones has written extensively on the CIA and FBI and their roles in American democracy during war and peacetime. His more recent publication, Cloak and Dollar: A History of American Secret Intelligence reveals the historic tendency of both the CIA and the FBI to use deception, exaggeration, and even invented threats in order to frighten the American people into demanding greater protection. Further, Jeffreys-Jones argues that each failure by the CIA leads not to an appraisal of the agency's shortcomings but rather to calls for increased size and a bigger budget. Scotsman reviewer Tim Cornwell declared: "Short on polemic, this book is large on thought-provoking patterns." Library Journal correspondent Ed Goedeken found the book "an exceedingly well-written narrative based on extensive archival research."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, July, 1998, Teresa A. Thomas, review of Changing Differences: Women and the Shaping of American Foreign Policy, p. 226.

Commonweal, February 25, 2000, Chris Appy, "Still Fighting That War," p. 24.

Foreign Affairs, November-December, 1995, David C. Hendrickson, review of Changing Differences, p. 126.

Journal of American History, June, 1990, Robert D. Schulzinger, review of The CIA and American Democracy, p. 359.

Journal of Women's History, autumn, 1999, Anne Marie Pois, review of Changing Differences, p. 213.

Library Journal, September 1, 1999, Duncan Stewart, review of Peace Now!: American Society and the Ending of the Vietnam War, p. 211; April 1, 2002, Ed Goedeken, review of Cloak and Dollar: A History of American Secret Intelligence, p. 123.

New York Times Book Review, September 3, 1995, Ellen Carol DuBois, review of Changing Differences, p. 22.

Political Science Quarterly, summer, 1991, Dalton A. West, review of The CIA and American Diplomacy, p. 358; spring, 1996, Meredith Reid Sarkees, review of Changing Differences, p. 194.

Publishers Weekly, March 25, 2002, review of Cloak and Dollar, p. 53.

Scotsman, March 2, 2002, Tim Cornwell, review of Cloak and Dollar, p. 10.