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Paul Johnson (1) (1928–2023)

Author of A History of the American People

For other authors named Paul Johnson, see the disambiguation page.

75+ Works 15,303 Members 173 Reviews 19 Favorited

About the Author

Paul Johnson lives in London.

Series

Works by Paul Johnson

A History of the Jews (1988) 1,505 copies
Intellectuals (1988) 1,434 copies
A History of Christianity (1976) 1,385 copies
Churchill (2009) 680 copies
Art: A New History (2003) 583 copies
Napoleon (2002) 451 copies
The Papacy (1750) 173 copies
Darwin: Portrait of a Genius (2012) 131 copies
Mozart: A Life (1900) 122 copies
Eisenhower: A Life (2014) 93 copies
British Cathedrals (1980) 89 copies
Elizabeth I;: A biography (1974) 85 copies
Enemies of society (1977) 35 copies
Brief Lives (2010) 34 copies
The Bedside Guardian 2011 (2011) 28 copies
Tiempos Modernos (1998) — Author — 16 copies
A place in history (1974) 14 copies
Unsecular America (1986) 7 copies
The Suez war (1957) 5 copies
Merrie England (1964) 4 copies
The Recovery Of Freedom (1980) 2 copies

Associated Works

The Strange Death of Liberal England (1935) — Preface, some editions — 445 copies
America's Great Depression (1963) — Introduction, some editions — 334 copies
Eyewitness Decade (2010) — Contributor — 15 copies
What's Tha Up To?: Memories of a Yorkshire Bobby (2010) — Afterword, some editions — 14 copies
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society - Fifth Series, Volume 38 (1994) — Contributor, some editions — 5 copies
Observer Magazine 20/11/1977 (1977) — Author, some editions — 1 copy
London OZ 1 (1967) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

19th century (77) 20th century (125) America (47) American history (252) architecture (58) art (183) art history (111) biography (640) Britain (48) British history (58) castles (48) Christianity (175) Church History (107) culture (44) economics (66) England (82) essays (54) Europe (64) European History (116) France (48) history (2,518) intellectual history (73) Jewish History (76) Jews (40) Judaism (97) Kindle (39) modern history (60) Napoleon (41) non-fiction (628) philosophy (140) politics (131) read (58) religion (290) Renaissance (82) to-read (388) unread (57) US history (52) USA (72) world history (186) WWII (50)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Johnson, Paul
Legal name
Johnson, Paul Bede
Birthdate
1928-11-02
Date of death
2023-01-12
Gender
male
Nationality
UK
Birthplace
Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
Place of death
London, England, UK
Places of residence
London, England, UK
Gibraltar
Paris, France
Education
Magdalen College, University of Oxford (BA|1949)
Stonyhurst College, Clitheroe, Lancashire, England, UK
Occupations
reporter
editor
historian
columnist
speechwriter
journalist
Relationships
Hunt, Marigold (wife)
Johnson, Daniel (son)
Johnson, Luke (son)
Stoppard, Tom (friend)
Organizations
Kings' Royal Rifle Corps
Royal Army Educational Corps
National Union of Journalists
The Spectator
Daily Mail
The Daily Telegraph (show all 13)
New Statesman
Royal Commission on the Press
Cable Authority
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
Forbes
Stubbs Society
Awards and honors
Francis Boyer Award (1979)
King Award for Excellence (1980)
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2006)
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2016)
Short biography
1. Paul Bede Johnson 1928- (also entered in LT as Paul M. Johnson (maybe)) wrote Aerofilms book of London from the air; Art; Birth of the modern world; British cathedrals; Castles of England, Scotland and Wales; Cathedrals of England, Scotland and Wales; The Civilization of ancient Egypt; Creators; Elizabeth I; Enemies of society; George Washington; A History of Christianity; A History of the American people; A History of the English people; A History of the Jews; A History of the modern world; Intellectuals; Ireland; The Life and times of Edward III; Merrie England; Modern times; Napoleon; The National Trust book of British castles; The Offshore islanders; The Oxford book of British political anecdotes; Paul Johnson in New Zealand; A Place in history; Pope John XXIII; The Quest for God; The Quotable Paul Johnson; The Renaissance; To hell with Picasso; The Vanished landscape.

Members

Reviews

Considering that Paul Johnson left the Potteries when he was "nearly eleven", this is a remarkably vivid account of his early years there. Set in the context of the history of his family, the local area and national events, it will be a delightful read for any current or former resident of the Potteries.
 
Flagged
jimsnopes | Jul 5, 2023 |
Almost a novel, albeit with a lot of historical background. This is because so little is known of the real Socrates, I guess.
 
Flagged
themulhern | 9 other reviews | Jun 3, 2023 |
Long slow informative read perfectly suited for the reference shelf.
 
Flagged
Renzomalo | 15 other reviews | Apr 12, 2023 |

This is a necessarily short book. We know little about Socrates's life and all of it indirectly. He lived, after all, twenty-five hundred years ago. I would like to give it a higher rating, and please note that the rating I gave it is purely a reflection of the biographer, not its subject, whom I admire.

Mostly I was annoyed by Johnson's lack of objectivity. He's primarily a journalist not a historian, and it shows---particularly after having read Oleg Khlekniuk's careful biography of Stalin.

Johnson's book is rife with opinion presented as fact. An example: ``[Athens] was the cultural capital of the civilized world.'' So much for objectivity, to say nothing it being offensive to any of a number of contemporaneous civilizations (China's Zhou dynasty was 500 years old at the time of Socrates). Hell, at least acknowledge this is a matter of opinion not fact, you arrogant ass.

A judgmental gem: Plato's ideas about the soul are referred to as ``absurd.'' Oh, pray tell us, Mr. Johnson, what is the true nature of the soul and how did you come by this information? Smug bastard.

As an account of Socrates's life, it seems fine. The biographer's first task is to make the biographee sympathetic. Hard with some subjects, but easy enough with Socrates. Johnson manages this, but too much. He's more a cheerleader than a proper biographer. It's technically well-written, but the writing is academically shitty.
… (more)
 
Flagged
qaphsiel | 9 other reviews | Feb 20, 2023 |

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Statistics

Works
75
Also by
9
Members
15,303
Popularity
#1,486
Rating
3.8
Reviews
173
ISBNs
657
Languages
18
Favorited
19
Touchstones
136

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