How to Write the History of Modern Universities? A Polemics on Volume IV of A History of the University in Europe

Abstract

This paper presents a critical assessment of the prestigious volume "A history of the University in Europe. Universities since 1945", which presents a comprehensive overview of the development of post-war higher education.

The author critically interprets the main areas in which profound factual errors, typical for this work, occur. In part two of his contribution, the author formulates fundamental premises for critical, although primary resource based, comparative research of post-war universities.

Keywords

• history of universities
• historiography of education
• Europe
• the post-war period
• academic elites
• scientific communication