Reflections on Cambridge

by Alan Macfarlane

The traditions and creativity of Cambridge University have survived 800 years. In celebration, this first ever combined historical and anthropological account explores the culture, the customs, the colleges and the politics of this famous institution. As professor there for nearly forty years, the author sets forth on a personal but also dispassionate attempt to understand how this ancient university developed and changed and how it continues to influence all people who pass through it. This book delves into the history and architecture as well as the charm and ghosts of Cambridge, presenting a valuable resource for anyone who studies, teaches, visits, or is intrigued by this great intellectual centre.

223 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

About the author

Alan Macfarlane was born in Shillong, India, in 1941 and educated at the Dragon School, Sedbergh School, Oxford and London Universities. He is the author of over twenty books, including The Origins of English Individualism (1978) and Letters to Lily: On How the World Works (2005). He has worked in England, Nepal, Japan and China as both an historian and anthropologist. He was elected to the British Academy in 1986 and is now Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Cambridge and a Life Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge.

Reviews

[Henne · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a book about Alan Macfarlane I would say this does the job pretty well. But for a book about Cambridge in a general sense I found it to be lacking so much. I'm glad that this was written but I would rather there was a bit more competition out there with this book (in the somewhat niche genre that is Oxbridge memoir). It's not that this book is particularly bad, as it's actually quite well written for the most part, but it's hard to recommend to others because of its rather limited perspective. It's a difficult topic to write about and I don't know of many others like this book that succeed, so you should bear that in mind. Indeed one of the most frequent citations is to a book called "Camford Observed" by Rose and Ziman, which is obscure enough that it doesn't even exist on Goodreads let alone have any reviews.

[Meenakshi Chawla]

An easily readable book that appears to flow from the ancient beginnings of the world-class university to modern times when it has grown into an awe-inspring institution.

The author, a world-famous anthropologist, writes with a simplicity that can only be born of a deep understanding of his subject and a love for life itself.

I enjoyed this book immensely.