Norman Stone

For the American psychotherapist and art collector, see Norman C. Stone. For the Maryland state senator, see Norman R. Stone, Jr. For the English footballer, see Norman Stone (footballer).

Norman Stone
Born	(1941-03-08) 8 March 1941 Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Residence	Oxford, England, UK Turkey
Education	Glasgow Academy Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (BA, MA)
Employer	University of Cambridge, Fellow Gonville and Caius Coll (1965–71) Lecturer in Russian history (1968–84) Fellow Jesus Coll (1971–79) Fellow Trinity Coll (1979–84) University of Oxford Professor of Modern History (1984–97) Fellow Worcester Coll (1984–97) Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey
Title	Professor
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Marie Nicole Aubry (2 July 1966–1977) Christine Margaret Booker, née Verity (11 August 1982–present)
Children	Nicholas, 1966 Sebastian, 1972 Rupert, 1983
Parent(s)	Flt Lt Norman Stone, RAF (KIA, 1942) Mary Robertson, née Pettigrew (d 1991)
Notes

Norman Stone (born 8 March 1941) is a British historian, who is currently a Professor in the Department of International Relations at Bilkent University, Ankara. He is a former Professor at the University of Oxford, Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, and adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Early life and education

Stone attended Glasgow Academy on a scholarship for the children of deceased servicemen – his father having been killed in World War II – and graduated with First Class Honours in History from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (1959–1962). Following his undergraduate degree, Stone did research in Central European history in Vienna and Budapest (1962–65).

Career

Cambridge

Upon completion of his doctorate, Stone was offered a research fellowship by Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he later became an Assistant Lecturer in Russian and German History (1967), and a full Lecturer (1973). In 1971 he had transferred from Caius to Jesus College. In 1983 Stone criticized the recently deceased E. H. Carr in the London Review of Books. Some of his critics argued that his obituary bordered on the defamatory.

Oxford

In 1984 Stone was appointed Professor of Modern History at Oxford University, England. Stone's tenure at Oxford was not without controversy. Petronella Wyatt wrote that Stone "loathed the place as petty and provincial, and for its adherence to the Marxist-determinist view of history." He published a column in the Sunday Times between 1987 and 1992, and was also employed by the BBC, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and the Wall Street Journal. Stone became Margaret Thatcher's foreign policy advisor on Europe, as well as her speech writer.

Turkey

In 1997, Stone left Oxford University to teach at the department of International Relations at Bilkent University, Ankara. In 2005 Stone transferred to Koc University, Istanbul. In 2007 he returned to Bilkent University to teach history. He also guest lectures at Bogazici University, Istanbul. Since moving to Turkey, Stone has been a frequent contributor to Cornucopia, a magazine about the history and culture of Turkey. In 2004, Stone took part in a letter exchange on the pages of the Times Literary Supplement, where he criticized Peter Balakian's 2003 book on the Armenian genocide The Burning Tigris, saying that Balakian "should stick to the poems." In 2010, Stone published a book on Turkish history, from the 11th century to the present day, Turkey: A Short History.

Writing

Stone's best known book is The Eastern Front 1914-1917 (1975) for which he was awarded the Wolfson History Prize. He has also written Hitler (1980), Europe Transformed 1878-1919 (1983), and World War I: A Short History (2007). He mostly writes about historical events in the past century, and is an expert on both World Wars.

Personal life

While in Vienna in the 1960s, Stone met his first wife Nicole, the niece of the finance minister in "Papa Doc" Duvalier's Haiti government. Their son Nick Stone is a thriller writer. Stone divides his time between Turkey and England. Stone's second wife, Christine, was a leading member of the British Helsinki Human Rights Group.

Published works

• The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 (1975); ISBN 0-340-12874-7
• Hitler (1980); ISBN 0-340-24980-3 (Coronet Publ.)
• Europe Transformed, 1878-1919 (1983), ISBN 0-00-634262-0; 2nd ed. (1999); ISBN 0-631-21507-7
• Czechoslovakia: Crossroads and Crises, 1918-88 (1989); ISBN 0-333-48507-6
• The Times Atlas of World History (1989); ISBN 0-7230-0304-1 (ed.)
• The Other Russia (1990); ISBN 0-571-13574-9 (with Michael Glenny)
• Turkey in the Russian Mirror, in Ljubica Erickson and Mark Erickson (ed.), Russia: War, Peace and Diplomacy. Essays in Honour of John Erickson, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005, pp. 86–100.
• Islam in Turkey, in Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha (ed.), Europa in der Welt – die Welt in Europa (= Kulturwissenschaft interdisziplinär/Interdisciplinary Studies on Culture and Society, Vol. 1), Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2006, pp. 139–145.; ISBN 978-3-8329-1934-4
• World War One: A Short History (2007); ISBN 1-84614-013-7 Penguin Press
• The Atlantic and Its Enemies: A Personal History of the Cold War (2010); ISBN 978-1-84614-275-8 Allen Lane
• Turkey: A Short History (2010), ISBN 0-500-25175-4; Thames & Hudson
• World War Two: a Short History (2013), Allen Lane/Basic Books

External links

• "Russia - Getting Too Strong for Germany"
• Interview with Stone on "New Books in History"