Book Review

The University of London 1836-1986

By Negley Harte

The Anthlone Press

ISBN 0 485 12052 6

February 21, 1999

By George D. Pappas

Editor - The Malet Street Gazette

During the recent Graduation Reception at Senate House on February 5, 1999, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a copy of "The University of London 1836-1986," by Negley Harte. As a student of the University of London, first with the London School of Economics in 1979-1982, and more recently with the External Program 1993-1998, I never realized such a book was in print.

With book in hand, I set out to read and thumb my way through history. What a treasure of information, pictures, and illustrations. If you're a student of the University of London, a graduate interested in education or just someone interested in English History in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this book is well worth reading.

Did you know that the University of London was the first in the world to offer degrees without religious tests (unlike Oxford and Cambridge in the early 1800's), in promoting teaching and research in laboratory science, engineering and modern languages, in admitting women to degrees, appointing woman professors, development of an external program in 1858? Did you know that General D. Eisenhower passed through Senate House during World War Two for a press conference? Interesting little slices of history fill this book.

Negley Harte does an outstanding job of organizing the history of the University in such a way that you are free to pick and choose which period you read. The book is neatly organized in sections headed as The Federal University, Origins, Metropolitan Degrees (1836-1870), The Reconstituted University (1900-1929), Bloomsbury and Beyond (1929-1963), and Robbins and After (1963-1986). There is also a useful bibliography for those of you interested in reading further about the University's colorful history.

Just as entertaining are the historical illustrations and pictures of the University. Interesting photo's include Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt receiving honorary degrees. The construction of Senate House during the 1930's shows the massive operation preceded by the myriad of architectural drawings showing Bloomsbury during the turn of the century. The memorable picture of the moment when LSE rocked the world in 1968 is worth a look. Photo's from the early 1800's of University College, King's College, Highbury College, and others colleges bring the University's history to life.

Beyond the photos, illustrations, and historical records, you will also find The University of London history as an excellent source of information about how the University works. The University's Federal Structure and the debates that covered decades regarding where the University of London should be located. The impact individuals had on the development of the University of London into a global powerhouse of University teaching can be gleaned by the influences of William Beverage (LSE Director from 1919-1937), and countless others who helped fund the construction of Senate House.

Most importantly, reading this book you realize just how complex the University of London is. Many if it's constituent medical colleges predated the University. You can move from the Parliamentary debates of the 1830's in charting a new University to grant degrees, to the twentieth century where the House of Commons debates about the funding of the University - all very political and fascinating to read.

In the end, you will be reminded that the University of London is also the birth child of the British Government created by an Act of Parliament in 1836. Thus, the University of London is a national institution, which has grown to expand and enhance higher education unlike any other University in the world. In a nutshell, Negley Harte helps us understand why the University of London is Sui Generis or in a class by itself.

Reprinted with permisssion by The Malet Street Gazette.