Ivan Roots

Ivan Alan Roots (born March 3, 1921 in Maidstone , Kent , † February 8, 2015 ) was a British historian .

Life

Ivan Roots was founded in 1921 as one (nee Snashfold) of five sons of Frank Roots and his wife Ellen in Maidstone in the county born Kent. He attended the Grammar School in Maidstone and later studied at Balliol College of Oxford University . Christopher Hill was his tutor there and with this he had a lifelong friendship. At Oxford he also discovered his interest in the history of 17th century England, especially after the English Civil War . Upon graduation, he joined the Royal Corps of Signals in 1941 and served in India and Burma. In 1944 he took part in the battle for the admin box . He left the army with the rank of captain .

Back in the UK, he took up his first academic post at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in Cardiff . There he met his future wife, Tegwyn Williams. The two married in 1947. The marriage resulted in two children, a son and a daughter. In 1967 Roots moved to the University of Exeter , where he was appointed professor of history. Here he spent his further academic career. In 1986 he retired .

Roots was President of the Cromwell Association for 12 years.

Publications (selection)

• with Donald Pennington (Ed.): The Committee at Stafford, 1643–1645 (1957)
• The Great Rebellion (1966)
• (Ed.): Into Another Mold: Aspects of the Interregnum (1981)
• The Monmouth Rising (1986)
• (Ed.): Speeches of Oliver Cromwell (1989)
• Cromwellian and Restoration Devon (2003)

Web links

• Ivan Roots obituary , March 26, 2015, The Guardian