Richard J. Evans
A master historian who dissected the Third Reich with forensic detail, then stood as a formidable defender of historical truth in the courtroom and public square.
Born 1947 (age 79)·British historian·Birthday: September 29·Baby Boomers
Biography
Richard J. Evans approaches the past like a master prosecutor, assembling evidence with cool, commanding authority. The British historian made his name with deeply researched social histories of 19th-century Europe before undertaking his monumental trilogy on Nazi Germany, a work that synthesized a mountain of scholarship into a gripping, definitive narrative. His academic rigor was tested in a very public arena when he served as an expert witness in the David Irving libel trial, his testimony crucially dismantling the claims of the Holocaust denier. As Regius Professor at Cambridge, Evans was a staunch advocate for the historian's craft, later critiquing what he saw as the misuse of history by politicians. His career embodies the idea that meticulous scholarship is not an ivory-tower pursuit but a vital pillar of an informed society.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Richard was born in 1947, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Richard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1947
#1 Movie
The Egg and I
Best Picture
Gentleman's Agreement
Richard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1947Born
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1952Started school
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1960Became a teenager
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1963Could drive
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1965Could vote
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Turned 21
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1977Turned 30
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1987Turned 40
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 50
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 60
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 70
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 79 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Author of the landmark three-volume 'The Third Reich Trilogy' (2003-2008), a comprehensive historical synthesis.
- Served as the lead expert witness for the defense in the 2000 David Irving vs. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt libel trial.
- Held the prestigious Regius Professor of History chair at the University of Cambridge from 2008 to 2014.
- Knighted in 2012 for his services to scholarship.
Did You Know?
His first academic post was at the University of Stirling in Scotland, where he taught from 1972 to 1976.
He is a fluent German speaker, which was fundamental to his research in German archives.
He has publicly criticized the historical analogies used by politicians during the Brexit debate.
He served as President of Wolfson College, Cambridge, from 2010 to 2017.
“The job of the historian is to explain the past, not to provide a set of analogies for the present.”
