Simon Schama

Simon Michael Schama, CBE (born 13 February 1945) is a professor of history and art history at Columbia University. His many works on history and art include Landscape and Memory, Dead Certainties, Rembrandt's Eyes, and his history of the French Revolution, Citizens. He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain. He was an art and cultural critic for The New Yorker. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (816x1305, 196 KB) This image is of Simon Schama at Strand Book Store, New York City. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (816x1305, 196 KB) This image is of Simon Schama at Strand Book Store, New York City. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire (Military division) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority... February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Penguin paperback (2004). ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... There have been many books called A History of Britain. ... The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry and fiction. ...

Biography

The son of second-generation immigrant Jewish parents with roots in Lithuania and Turkey, Schama was born in London in February 1945; in the late 1940s, the family moved to Southend-on-Sea in Essex before moving back to London. Schama won a scholarship to the prestigious Haberdashers' Aske's public school and went on to Christ's College, Cambridge studying history under J. H. Plumb. For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Southend-on-Sea is a resort town in Essex, England. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... Scholarship is the pursuit of academic research, whether in the arts and humanities or sciences, and in all such fields means deep mastery of a subject, often through study at institutions of higher education. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Term public school has two distinct meanings: elementary or secondary school supported and administered by state and local officials, or, in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, a private or independent, fee-paying school, generally not coeducational, that prepares pupils for university. ... Full name Christs College Motto Souvent me Souvient I Often Remember Named after Christ Previous names Gods-house (1437), Christs College (1505) Established 1505 Sister College(s) Wadham College Master Prof. ... The University of Cambridge (usually abbreviated as Cantab. ... Sir John Harold Plumb (1911 – 21 October 2001), known as Jack, was a British historian, known for his books on British eighteenth century history. ...

While working on and off as a lecturer in history at Cambridge and Oxford Universities throughout the 1970s, specialising in the French revolution, Schama wrote his first book, Patriots and Liberators, originally intended as a study of the revolution but eventually published in 1979 focussing on the effect of the revolution in Holland. The book won the Wolfson History Prize. In 1980 Schama accepted the offer of a professorship at Harvard University, and wrote several important books in the 1980s; Two Rothschilds and The Embarrassment of Riches (1987) again focussed on Dutch history, while Citizens (1989), written at speed to a publisher's commission, finally saw the publication of his long-awaited study of the French revolution. The University of Cambridge (usually abbreviated as Cantab. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ... The Wolfson History Prize is given annually by the Wolfson Foundation. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) , is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. One of the eight Ivies, it was founded in 1636. ... Rothschild Coat of Arms The Mayer Amschel Rothschild family (often referred to simply as The Rothschilds), is an eminent international banking and finance dynasty of German Jewish origin that established operations across Europe, and was ennobled by the Austrian and British governments. ...

Citizens was very well-received and sold admirably, and Schama's confidence grew; in 1991, he published the strange Dead Certainties (Unwarranted Speculations), a slender, novella-type work which looked at two widely reported deaths a hundred years apart and mooted some possible (invented) connections between the two cases. It received a greatly mixed critical and academic reception (Australia's Keith Windschuttle, in his The Killing of History, took particular exception to the book's overt fictionalizing), and sold poorly. Keith Windschuttle (born 1942) is an Australian writer who is the author of several books, including Unemployment (1979) which analyses the economic causes and social consequences of unemployment in Australia, The Media: a New Analysis of the Press, Television, Radio and Advertising in Australia (1984) on the political economy and...

In 1995, Schama produced another daring book, Landscape and Memory, focussed on the relationship between the physical environment of a given area and the collective folk memory and characteristics of its people. The book, while in many ways appearing even more personal and self-indulgent in its approaches than Dead Certainties, was also more traditionally structured and well-defined in its approach, and while many of the reviews remained decidedly mixed, the book was a definite commercial success and won numerous prizes.

Schama at Strand Bookstore, New York City

Appropriately, many of the plaudits came from the art world rather than the field of traditional academia, a reception borne out when Schama became art critic for The New Yorker magazine in 1995. He held the position for three years, dovetailing his regular column with his professorial duties at Columbia University; a selection of his best essays on art for the magazine, chosen by Schama himself, was released in 2005 under the title Hang Ups. During this time, Schama also produced a lavishly illustrated, full-length biography of Rembrandt van Rijn, Rembrandt's Eyes, another critical and commercial success. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 955 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Simon Schama at The Strand by David Shankbone File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 955 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Simon Schama at The Strand by David Shankbone File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev... The Strand Book Store, at Broadway and 12th Street The Strand annex on Fulton Street The Strand Book Store, located at Broadway and East 12 Street in New York City, is an independent bookstore famous for its giant collection of new, rare, used, and out-of-print books, its advertising... The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry and fiction. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States. ... Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15, 1606 - October 4, 1669) is generally considered one of the greatest painters in European art history, and the most important United Provinces (Netherlands) painter of the seventeenth century. ...

The year 2000 saw Schama finally return to the UK, having been commissioned by the BBC to produce a series of television documentary programmes on British history as part of their Millennium celebrations, under the title A History of Britain (Schama was insistent on the title beginning with "A" rather than "The", so as to underline that his was a personal subjective view rather than an academic, didactic standard). Schama wrote and presented the episodes himself, in a friendly and often jocular but never patronising style, and was rewarded with excellent reviews and unexpectedly high ratings. There has been, however, some irritation and criticism expressed by other historians about Schama's recounting of British Isles' history, particularly those specializing in the history of pre-Anglo, Celtic civilizations.^[1] The series eventually ran to three series, with 15 episodes^[2] produced in total covering the complete span of British history up until 1965, and went on to become one of the BBC's best-selling documentary series on DVD. Schama also wrote a trilogy of tie-in books for the show, which took the story up to the year 2000; there is some debate as to whether the books are the tie-in product for the TV series, or the other way around. The series also had some popularity in the United States when it was first shown on the History Channel. In 2001 he was made a CBE. The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... Britain may be understood in a number of ways (See Britain). ... The Didactic is facts based as opposed to the Dialectic which is feelings based. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... The History Channel is a cable television channel, dedicated to the presentation of historical events and persons, often with frequent observations and explanations by noted historians as well as reenactors and witnesses to events, if possible. ...

In 2003, Schama signed a lucrative new contract with the BBC and HarperCollins to produce three new books and two accompanying TV series. Worth £3 million (around $5.3m), it represents the biggest advance deal ever for a TV historian. The first result of the deal was a book and TV show entitled Rough Crossings, dealing with stories of migration across the Atlantic Ocean and including chapters/episodes on Pocahontas, freed slaves, and the Irish famine, in effect making him a Superdon. HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ... Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution , by Simon Schama This gives the little-known history of thousands of African-American slaves who fled the plantations to fight behind British lines in the American War of Independence. ... A 1616 engraving of Pocahontas by Simon van de Passe. ... Starvation during the famine The Irish Potato Famine, also called The Great Famine or The Great Hunger (Irish: An Gorta Mór), is the name given to a famine which struck Ireland between 1846 and 1849. ... A Superdon (or celebrity don) is an academic who repeatedly appears in television documentaries. ...

In 2006 the BBC broadcast a new TV series Simon Schama's Power of Art which, with accompanying book, was presented and written by Schama. It marks a return to art history for him, through treating 8 artists through 8 key works (Caravaggio's David with the Head of Goliath, Bernini's Ecstasy of St Theresa, Rembrandt's Conspiracy of Julius Civilis, Jacques-Louis David's The Death Of Marat, J. M. W. Turner, Vincent van Gogh, Picasso's Guernica, and Mark Rothko, the last with music by Daniel Giorgetti).^[3] It was also shown on PBS in the United States. Power of Art is a BBC documentary series written and presented by Simon Schama. ... Chalk portrait of Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni, c. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 476 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2024 × 2551 pixel, file size: 190 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): David with the... A self portrait: Bernini is said to have used his own features in the David (below, left) Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini) (December 7, 1598 - November 28, 1680), who worked chiefly in Rome, was the pre-eminent baroque artist. ... , by Gian Lorenzo Bernini The Ecstasy of St Theresa (alternatively St Teresa in Ecstasy or Transverberation of St Teresa) is a marble masterpiece sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, which is part of his complete architectural design, construction, and decoration the Cornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome completed... Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15, 1606– October 4, 1669) is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history. ... Download high resolution version (835x524, 29 KB)Rembrandt van Rijn - Conspiracy of Claudius (Julius) Civilis The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Jacques-Louis David (August 30, 1748 – December 29, 1825) was a highly influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the prominent painter of the era. ... Download high resolution version (1001x1287, 138 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Self portrait, oil on canvas, circa 1799 Joseph Mallord William Turner (April 23, 1775 (exact date disputed) – December 19, 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style can be said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism. ... Vincent Willem van Gogh (Dutch pronunciation: ) (March 30, 1853 in Zundert – July 29, 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise) was a Dutch draughtsman and painter, classified as a Post-Impressionist. ... A young Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso, formally Pablo Ruiz Picasso, (October 25, 1881 - April 8, 1973) was one of the recognized masters of 20th century art. ... Guernica is one of the most famous paintings by Pablo Picasso, depicting the consequences of the bombing of Guernica. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Daniel Giorgetti was born in London and studied piano and composition at the London College of Music with Martin Ellerby, and the Royal College of Music with Edwin Roxburgh. ...

Prizes

Winner, 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, for Rough Crossings. The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American association of approximately seven hundred book reviewers. ...

Books

• Patriots and Liberators: Revolution in the Netherlands 1780–1813 (1977)
• Two Rothschilds and the Land of Israel (1978)
• The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age (1987)
• Simon Schama (March 1, 1989). Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. Alfred A Knopf, New York City. ISBN 0-394-55948-7. 
• Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculations (1991)
• Landscape and Memory (1995)
• Rembrandt's Eyes (1999)
• A History of Britain Vol. I (2000, ISBN 0-563-48714-3)
• A History of Britain Vol. II (2001, ISBN 0-563-48718-6)
• A History of Britain Vol. III (2002, ISBN 0-563-48719-4)
• Rough Crossings (2005, ISBN 0-06-053916-X)
• The Power of Art (2006, ISBN 0-06-117610-9)

March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York, NY redirects here. ... There have been many books called A History of Britain. ... There have been many books called A History of Britain. ... There have been many books called A History of Britain. ... Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution , by Simon Schama This gives the little-known history of thousands of African-American slaves who fled the plantations to fight behind British lines in the American War of Independence. ...

Notes

March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (88th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (88th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (88th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ...

External links

• Columbia History faculty page
• Columbia Art History faculty page
• "Free Fight", with Schama, offers "a new look at Britain, America, slavery and freedom during the Revolutionary War". The Brian Lehrer Show, May 8, 2006.