David Hackett Fischer

Last updated
David Hackett Fischer
Born (1935-12-02) December 2, 1935 (age 88)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation Professor
Education Princeton University (AB)
Johns Hopkins University (PhD)
Genre History
Notable works  Washington's Crossing
  Champlain's Dream
 Paul Revere's Ride
  Albion's Seed
 Liberty and Freedom
  The Great Wave

David Hackett Fischer (born December 2, 1935) is University Professor of History Emeritus at Brandeis University. Fischer's major works have covered topics ranging from large macroeconomic and cultural trends ( Albion's Seed, The Great Wave ) to narrative histories of significant events (Paul Revere's Ride,Washington's Crossing) to explorations of historiography (Historians' Fallacies, in which he coined the term "historian's fallacy").

Contents

Education

Fischer grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1958 and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1962. [1]

Career

Fischer has been on the faculty of Brandeis University for 50 years, where he is known for being interested in his students and history. [2]

He is best known for two major works: Albion's Seed (1989), and Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History) (2004). In Albion's Seed, he argues that core aspects of American culture stem from four British folkways and regional cultures and that their interaction and conflict have been decisive factors in U.S. political and historical development. In Washington's Crossing, Fischer provides a narrative of George Washington's leadership of the Continental Army during the winter of 1776–1777 during the American Revolutionary War.

He was admitted as an honorary member of The Society of the Cincinnati in 2006. He is a member of the board of College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Awards

Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History) (2004) won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for History [3] and was a 2004 finalist for the National Book Award in the Nonfiction category. [4]

He received the 2006 Irving Kristol Award from the American Enterprise Institute. [5]

In 2008, he published Champlain's Dream, an exploration of Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer and founder of Quebec City. The book was a runner-up in the 2009 Cundill Prize. [6]

In 2015, Fischer was named the recipient of the Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. [1] [7]

In addition to these literary awards, he has been recognized for his commitment to teaching with the 1990 Carnegie Prize as Massachusetts Professor of the Year and the Louis Dembitz Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching. [1]

Selected works

External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Booknotes interview with Fischer on Paul Revere's Ride, July 17, 1994, C-SPAN
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Presentation by Fischer on Champlain's Dream at the New York Historical Society, October 23, 2008, C-SPAN
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Presentation by Fischer on Washington's Crossing, February 26, 2004, C-SPAN

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "David Hackett Fischer". pritzkermilitary.org.
  2. "Historian David Hackett Fischer Marks 50 Years at Brandeis - Brandeis Magazine". Brandeis Magazine.
  3. "David Hackett Fischer Receives Pulitzer Prize". historians.org.
  4. "David Hackett Fischer, 2004 National Book Award Finalist: Nonfiction, National Book Foundation". nationalbook.org.
  5. "David Hackett Fischer to Receive 2006 Irving Kristol Award". AEI.
  6. "2009 Short List - Cundill Prize in History". cundillprize.com. Archived from the original on 2015-06-29.
  7. "Brandeis professor Fischer wins $100,000 Pritzker Award". BostonGlobe.com.