Raphael Samuel (1934 -1996) left us the product of a lifetime of teaching, scholarship and political activity. Gifted in all these areas, he wrote, as his close friend Gareth Stedman Jones recalled, with 'the insight of a literary critic, the acuity of an anthropologist and the wit of a political journalist'. Consequently, the archive will make inspirational reading for the student, professional academic, enthusiastic amateur and cultural commentator alike. Raphael's was a democratic approach to history and his resistance to academic convention, his dismantling of academic and professional hierarchies make this a varied, fascinating and unique collection.

Constantly defying boundaries, Raphael Samuel's publications and talks are nevertheless only one measure of his contribution to a wider historical culture. They represent only a fraction of his overall output that stretches back to the 1950s and to which visitors, I hope, will add their commentaries and memories. A constant at these various 'interventions', at least according to Bill Schwarz, is that he would 'bring the archive with him', initially in brief cases or shopping bags and later a 'niftier array' of shoulder bags. One fantasy that will be open to us all is to empty the contents of these bags and to rummage around. Here we will find the important movements and generations contemporary to Raphael but also we will be able to learn from his extraordinary working methods. This will not fossilise the life of a consummate historian and teacher but instead 'make the dead speak' in dialogue with the living. In doing so, we commemorate. Much more than this, we take his work further.

Further information:

Biographical extract from Island Stories by Alison Light

Raphael Samuel’s Talks: a Cumulative Bibliography

Raphael Samuel’s Publications: a Cumulative Bibliography

'History and Memory' Roy Porter interviews Raphael Samuel (1995)