An Introduction to the History of Western Europe

James Harvey Robinson (June 29, 1863 in Bloomington, Illinois - February 16, 1936 in New York City) was an American historian, who co-founded New History, which greatly broadened the scope of historical scholarship in relation to the social sciences. Robinson’s An Introduction to the History of Western Europe (1902, followed by several editions) was “The first textbook on European history which was reliable in scholarship, lively in tone, and penetrating in its interpretations. It revolutionized the teaching of European history and put a whole generation of history students and history teachers in debt to the author.” Robinson’s book The Mind in the Making: The Relation of Intelligence to Social Reform (1921), was a bestseller, introducing a generation of readers to the intellectual world of higher education; it argues for freedom of thought as essential to progress.