Harvard Observed: An Illustrated History of the University in the Twentieth Century [Hardcover]

John T. Bethell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 1998

Depicting the evolution of 20th-century Harvard in the broader context of national and world events, this text shows how changes in the structure and aspirations of American society led the University to remake itself after World War II, and to do so again after the social upheavals of the Vietnam era. It opens in 1898, when a quick victory in the Spanish-American War made the United States a world power. The narrative spans the presidencies of Charles William Eliot, A. Lawrence Lowell, Conant, Nathan Pusey, Derek Bok, and Neil L. Rudenstine, tracing the ups and downs of America's oldest university in a century that saw: the dismantling of empires; wars on a planetary scale; the age of flight; electoronic communications; the evolution of jazz and rock music; the parting of the atom; artificial intelligence; the arrival of film as a major art form; genetic engineering; global interdependence; and the exploration of deep space. As a documentary of the changing institutional life of a major research university, this text has much to say and show about the academic rites, intellectual arguments, sexual mores, fads, and folklore that became touchstones for successive generations of Harvardians.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mr. Bethell, former editor of Harvard Magazine, guides readers through an engaging history of the modern university as it mirrored the ups and downs of this century--wars, the Depression, the atomic and electronic ages. It is a heritage of which not only Cantabrigians but all Americans can be proud. (King Features Weekly Service )

In the early years of the twentieth century, President Charles William Eliot fought to keep Harvard from becoming a refuge for "the stupid sons of the rich." A. Lawrence Lowell, a tireless builder, gave the modern University its physical structure. James Conant helped forge a wartime alliance of universities, industry, and government that sustained an astonishingly prosperous postwar epoch.

John Bethell provides his general readers with "a panoramic view" of Harvard that must be judged a "just representation," and in the words of Dr. Johnson, it "will please many, and please long."
--Michael Shinagel (Harvard Review )

About the Author

John T. Bethell is the Senior Editor of The American Scholar and a contributing editor at Harvard Magazine, where he was editor from 1966 to 1995.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press; 1st edition (November 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674377338
• ISBN-13: 978-0674377332
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #540,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, thoughtful, and definitive, May 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Harvard Observed: An Illustrated History of the University in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

HARVARD OBSERVED is a cogent and thought-provoking history that belongs on the shelf of every Harvard alumnus or alumna--and also in the library of anyone who is interested in American higher education. The illustrations are well-chosen; the anecdotes are often surprising; and though one comes away with great respect for Harvard, Bethell's warts-and-all presentation gives this book anything but an institutional feel. The book would be worth buying even if one read nothing but the section on SDS's takeover of University Hall in 1969, which is a model of fairness and careful reportage (the author was obviously on the scene). A splendid book throughout

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The captivating tale of an institution in transition, October 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Harvard Observed: An Illustrated History of the University in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

The author sorts through the major and minor events of Harvard's last hundred years to show how one of the world's great institutions has changed, and been changed by, the twentieth century. Thoroughly researched and written with an emphasis on the telling detail, Harvard Observed should be a treat for anyone with a Harvard connection or an interest in twentieth century history. [Reviewed in galleys]