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By Steven Runciman - A Traveller's Alphabet: Partial Memoirs (1991-04-16) [Hardcover]
Excellent Book
Hardcover
First published April 1, 1991
59 people want to read
About the author
Steven Runciman
44 books236 followersA King's Scholar at Eton College, he was an exact contemporary and close friend of George Orwell. While there, they both studied French under Aldous Huxley. In 1921 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge as a history scholar and studied under J.B. Bury, becoming, as Runciman later commented, "his first, and only, student." At first the reclusive Bury tried to brush him off; then, when Runciman mentioned that he could read Russian, Bury gave him a stack of Bulgarian articles to edit, and so their relationship began. His work on the Byzantine Empire earned him a fellowship at Trinity in 1927.
After receiving a large inheritance from his grandfather, Runciman resigned his fellowship in 1938 and began travelling widely. From 1942 to 1945 he was Professor of Byzantine Art and History at Istanbul University, in Turkey, where he began the research on the Crusades which would lead to his best known work, the History of the Crusades (three volumes appearing in 1951, 1952, and 1954).
Most of Runciman's historical works deal with Byzantium and her medieval neighbours between Sicily and Syria; one exception is The White Rajahs, published in 1960, which tells the story of Sarawak, an independent nation founded on the northern coast of Borneo in 1841 by the Englishman James Brooke, and ruled by the Brooke family for more than a century.
After receiving a large inheritance from his grandfather, Runciman resigned his fellowship in 1938 and began travelling widely. From 1942 to 1945 he was Professor of Byzantine Art and History at Istanbul University, in Turkey, where he began the research on the Crusades which would lead to his best known work, the History of the Crusades (three volumes appearing in 1951, 1952, and 1954).
Most of Runciman's historical works deal with Byzantium and her medieval neighbours between Sicily and Syria; one exception is The White Rajahs, published in 1960, which tells the story of Sarawak, an independent nation founded on the northern coast of Borneo in 1841 by the Englishman James Brooke, and ruled by the Brooke family for more than a century.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 4, 2013
I've always admired Steven Runciman as a historian and a writer. His clear voice in books like The Great Church in Captivity or the Mideaval Manichee so matched his great scholarship and fine writing style.
This book fills Sir Steven out, good and bad. He is a tireless traveler and a tiresome name dropper that was distantly related to every other member of the foreign service he met. Hailing from a distinguished family--Sir Steven's father was a viscount and in multiple cabinets, his grandfather a shipping magnate--Runciman was able to retire at a rather young age after spending a few years as a Cambridge Don.
Runciman was no doubt brilliant. His knowledge of multiple languages was quite amazing, but he was also an incredibly contradictory product of his times. He makes the acutely thoughtful comment that though the Dutch ruled Indonesia efficiently, they "took no account of the sad fact that most people prefer chaotic independence to efficient rule by aliens" (pg 157). On the other hand, when a group of Westerners go native in Bali, Runcimen is repelled by this blending of nationalities: "It was a bad moment for arriving there. During the last previous years numbers of people, Europeans and Americans, men and women, had settled in Bali and become rather to intimate with the natives. Fortunately the Dutch put an end to this fraternization. The men were jailed and the women deported from Dutch East India" (pg 159).
Of course Runciman also makes brilliant, witty observations. "There are charming quarters and charming people in the city (San Francisco) ; but the smug, complacent air of moral laxity is, I find unattractive (pg 88)." Now that's a proper put down in the great English tradition.
Still, Runciman annoys almost as much in this passage as Colonel Montgomery, the soon-to-be field marshal. "We all took a great dislike to Colonel Montgomery," Runciman the aristocrat sagely acknowledges, "as he used to lecture us on the luxurious lives that we led. . . .not even sparring Prince Alice from his strictures." Obviously Montgomery's manners just weren't up to snuff.
The book is by turns brilliant and exasperating. Sometimes winging, other times judgmental, Sir Steven travel writing is fascinating if you have the patience for the toff writing style and the assumptions he makes. But in no way let this deter you from history writing.
This book fills Sir Steven out, good and bad. He is a tireless traveler and a tiresome name dropper that was distantly related to every other member of the foreign service he met. Hailing from a distinguished family--Sir Steven's father was a viscount and in multiple cabinets, his grandfather a shipping magnate--Runciman was able to retire at a rather young age after spending a few years as a Cambridge Don.
Runciman was no doubt brilliant. His knowledge of multiple languages was quite amazing, but he was also an incredibly contradictory product of his times. He makes the acutely thoughtful comment that though the Dutch ruled Indonesia efficiently, they "took no account of the sad fact that most people prefer chaotic independence to efficient rule by aliens" (pg 157). On the other hand, when a group of Westerners go native in Bali, Runcimen is repelled by this blending of nationalities: "It was a bad moment for arriving there. During the last previous years numbers of people, Europeans and Americans, men and women, had settled in Bali and become rather to intimate with the natives. Fortunately the Dutch put an end to this fraternization. The men were jailed and the women deported from Dutch East India" (pg 159).
Of course Runciman also makes brilliant, witty observations. "There are charming quarters and charming people in the city (San Francisco) ; but the smug, complacent air of moral laxity is, I find unattractive (pg 88)." Now that's a proper put down in the great English tradition.
Still, Runciman annoys almost as much in this passage as Colonel Montgomery, the soon-to-be field marshal. "We all took a great dislike to Colonel Montgomery," Runciman the aristocrat sagely acknowledges, "as he used to lecture us on the luxurious lives that we led. . . .not even sparring Prince Alice from his strictures." Obviously Montgomery's manners just weren't up to snuff.
The book is by turns brilliant and exasperating. Sometimes winging, other times judgmental, Sir Steven travel writing is fascinating if you have the patience for the toff writing style and the assumptions he makes. But in no way let this deter you from history writing.
October 15, 2015
Sir Steven Runciman was one of those Englishmen who was well educated, well traveled and knew almost everyone of importance in England. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, He ended up teaching at Cambridge till an unexpected inheritance allowed him to devout his full time to writing. Till his passing, in 2004, he was the doyen of Byzantine Studies. Most of his books are still in print. This one, unfortunately, is not. Instead of writing his memoirs Sir Steven wrote about his travels working his way through the alphabet. Besides being a brilliant lecturer, he could tell a story and he was funny.
Independent scholars like Runciman are very rare these days. Certainly scholars that were so well connected to the British establishment are very rare. If you enjoyed any of his books, "History of Crusades", "Sicilian Vespers", you should enjoy "A Traveller's Alphabet".
Independent scholars like Runciman are very rare these days. Certainly scholars that were so well connected to the British establishment are very rare. If you enjoyed any of his books, "History of Crusades", "Sicilian Vespers", you should enjoy "A Traveller's Alphabet".
January 27, 2014
Organized by place names rather than chronology, Sir Steven Runciman recounts his marvelous memories of a well-travelled life. This is a book of travel anecdotes, with hundreds of encounters with eminent men and women of the 20th century. What circles this man moved in! He seems to have known most of the important men and women of Europe. This volume is a delight: especially for the reader who enjoys western history. Runciman is a wit as well as the archetypical kindly, elderly bachelor, and his adventures shine with the man's excellent humor and deep historic sympathies. This attached interview will give the curious reader an idea of what this volume is like, as well as several reasons to adore this unusual old gentleman. God rest his merry old soul, and God give us more like him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzvi3F...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzvi3F...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews