Martel, Gordon
MARTEL, Gordon
PERSONAL: Male. Education: Simon Fraser University, B.A. (honors), 1968; Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University & Harvard University, M.A., 1969; University of Toronto, Ph.D., 1977.
ADDRESSES: Office—427 Library Bldg., University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9, Canada. E-mail—martel@unbc.ca.
CAREER: Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, assistant professor, 1977-81; Royal Roads Military College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, assistant professor, 1981-83, associate professor, 1983-87, professor, 1987-95; Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, adjunct professor of history, 1995—; DeMontfort University, Leicester, England, senior research fellow, 1995—; University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, professor of history, 1995—.
WRITINGS:
(Editor) Modern Germany Reconsidered, 1870-1945, Routledge (New York, NY), 1992.
(Editor) American Foreign Relations Reconsidered, 1890-1993, Routledge (New York, NY), 1994.
Imperial Diplomacy: Rosebery and the Failure ofForeign Policy, McGill-Queen's University Press (Kingston, Ontario, Canada), 1986.
(Editor) The Origins of the Second World WarReconsidered: The A. J. P. Taylor Debate after Twenty-five Years, Allen and Unwin (Boston, MA), 1986, 2nd edition, 1999.
(Editor) Studies in British Imperial History: Essays inHonour of A. P. Thornton, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1986.
The Origins of the First World War, Longman (New York, NY), 1987, 2nd edition, 1996.
(Editor) The Times and Appeasement: The Journals ofA. L. Kennedy, 1932-1939, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, England), 2000.
SIDELIGHTS: In Imperial Diplomacy: Rosebery and the Failure of Foreign Policy, Gordon Martel presents the first detailed examination of Lord Rosebery's foreign policy during the period when he was foreign secretary and prime minister. Drawing on the personal papers of politicians and diplomats, Martel discusses Rosebery's liberal principles and defense of the concept of the British Empire. The book includes an analysis of Rosebery's policies toward Egypt and Uganda, as well as his policies toward Russia and Germany. In Choice, a reviewer noted that the book is "pure diplomatic history with no reference to social, political, or cultural factors." In the American Historical Review, Briton C. Busch wrote that the book would be "of importance to any student of Rosebery and of power relationships in the 1880s and 1890s." D. McLean, in the English Historical Review, described it as "sympathetic" and "thorough," as well as "well written and interesting to read," and commented that it "will, as claimed, become a standard authority on the diplomatic career of Lord Rosebery."
The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered: The A. J. P. Taylor Debate after Twenty-five Years presents ten original essays by various scholars who provide commentary on Taylor's 1961 book Origins of the Second World War. In the Times Educational Supplement, Martin Fagg wrote, "Gordon Martel nimbly traverses the much-trodden territory of First World War origins." Keith Robbins commented in the English Historical Review that "students [of World War II ] will find this book a useful and thorough introduction."
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
American Historical Review, October, 1986, Briton C. Busch, review of Imperial Diplomacy: Rosebery and the Failure of Foreign Policy, p. 923; April, 1987, review of Studies in British Imperial History: Essays in Honour of A. P. Thornton, p. 520; October, 1987, Gordon Wright, review of The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered: The A. J. P. Taylor Debate after Twenty-five Years, p. 947.
Choice, June, 1986, J. H. Weiner, review of Imperial Diplomacy, p. 1590; January, 1987, C. P. Vincent, review of The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered, p. 808.
Contemporary Review, April, 2000, James Munson, review of The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered, p. 220; May, 2001, review of The Times and Appeasement: The Journals of A. L. Kennedy, 1932-1939, p. 319.
English Historical Review, April, 1987, Keith Robbins, review of The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered, p. 446; January, 1989, D. McLean, review of Imperial Diplomacy, p. 244; October, 1989, Bernard Porter, review of Studies in British Imperial History, p. 1062.
European History Quarterly, October, 1989, Lothar Kettenacker, review of The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered, p. 565.
Historical Journal, September, 1992, Niall Ferguson, review of The Origins of the First World War, p. 725.
History, February, 1988, Andrew Porter, review of Imperial Diplomacy, p. 174.
History Today, June, 1987, review of Imperial Diplomacy, p. 56.
International History Review, August, 1996, Wesley T. Wooley, review of American Foreign Relations Reconsidered, 1890-1993, p. 683.
Journal of Modern History, September, 1988, Agatha Ramm, review of Imperial Diplomacy, p. 585.
London Review of Books, June 21, 2001, Geoffrey Best, "Heiling Hitler", p. 13.
Slavonic and East European Review, October, 1994, Mary Fulbrook, review of Modern Germany Reconsidered, 1870-1945, p. 758.
Times Educational Supplement, December 11, 1987, Martin Fagg, review of The Origins of the First World War, p. 24.*