George Norman Clark

Sir George Norman Clark (February 27, 1890-February 6, 1979, knighted 1953) was a 20th century British historian. Educated at Manchester Grammar School and Balliol College, Oxford, he became the inaugural Chichele Professor of Economic History at the University of Oxford in 1931 (with the accompanying Fellowship at All Souls), a post he held until 1943. From then until 1947 he was Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Between 1947 and 1957, he was Provost of Oriel College, Oxford.

Clark wrote a general introduction to the second edition of the "Cambridge Modern History" (1957), criticising the belief of some historians (in particular Lord Acton who had edited the first edition over half a century earlier) that eventually it would be possible to write an "ultimate history", rather they should expect their works to be built on and superseded by later historians. He stated that "knowledge of the past has come down through one or more human minds, has been processed by them, and therefore cannot consist of elemental and impersonal atoms which nothing can alter..." ["The New Cambridge Modern History", I, (1957), pp. iv-xxv.]

Between the 1930s and 1960s Clark was the editor overseeing the acclaimed "Oxford History of England" series, and wrote Volume X: "The Later Stuarts, 1660-1714" (1934), which was the first of the series to be published. He was twice editor of the "English Historical Review".

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*worldcat id|lccn-n50-47795