Eugen Weber loved Cambridge University for its rigor and seriousness. Weber remarks that despite his infidelity with Cambridge yet the University will continue to occupy not only a soft space in his heart but also a larger space. He states that Cambridge is where his intellectual life was developed, cultivated and nurtured. It was his beginning. And he did a Bachelor of Arts degree. This was a four-year BA with two years in “humane letters” followed by two in logic and philosophy.

And later comoleted Master of Arts degree. Both these with a particular focus on History. And not just history in general but medieval history. As he said: That time I have set myself on a path to become a medieval historian.

However, his PhD, degree was withdrawn.

Cambridge was established in the year 1209. It is the third oldest and respected university in the world. It is bracketed as one of the top universities. It has stood the test of time.

The reasons for the establishment of Cambridge were much more political as they were religious. What was happening during those days was the issue of church and state. The Roman Catholic Church practically was an empire in World. But then there were Kings. So conflict ensured between the two powers. Those who supported the power of the King ahead of the Pope were forced to leave Oxford University and thus Cambridge University was formed.

It was Cambridge University that went on to lay the foundation for the Reformation that was sparked by Martin Luther that ripped Christianity into two: Protestants and Catholics.

Cambridge has always been great and is still great. However, as we already seen, it functions within old traditions and Eugen Weber alludes to it by making an inference that the upward mobility and acceptance within the Cambridge University system is sometimes made easier when your last name has some history on it and the fact that the much powerful extended British Royal family has some power grips on Cambridge and their upward mobility is lubricated in many ways.

In the end, I guess the withdrawal of the PhD degree already given to Eugen Weber by Cambridge will forever be shrouded in mystery.

But all this was a blessings for Eugen Weber as the bad experience he had contributed in many ways to settle in America and from there joined the faculty of the University of California at Los Angeles. Where he proceeded to become the Dean of the College of Letters and Science. By the time he retired from the University Eugen Weber was a highly respected historian, and by most common consent the prince of History subject. His great books became frameworks for the study of History. Take for example the following:

A modern history of Europe: Men, Cultures, and Societies from the Renaissance to the Present

Movements, Currents, Trends: Aspects of European Thought in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Paths to the Present: Aspects of Thought from Romanticism to Existentialism.

Varieties of Fascism: Doctrines of Revolution in the Twentieth Century

All these books established new paths in the understanding of the human story. They provide us with great illumination and insights in the course of human development, which as we know is based on the past. The past, the human story, the history has so much power on the present and very much defines our future.

And Eugen Weber is a master on the that. In fact the New York Times considers him an authority.

Please support the continuation of this website in the works for the emerging World. Donate here