Antony Lentin

Antony Lentin, also known as Tony, (born 1941) is a British scholar, former barrister, and professor of history and law at the Open University. He is a distinguished member of Wolfson College, Cambridge, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Known for his studies on Lloyd George, Lentin uses the statesman's career to examine broader themes such as Germany’s position after the First World War, the impact of the war, the making of liberal foreign policies, how peace treaties shaped future conflicts, and the controversies surrounding appeasement. His major works include Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson and the Guilt of Germany (1984), The Versailles peace settlement : peacemaking with Germany (1991), and Lloyd George and the Lost Peace: From Versailles to Hitler, 1919-1940 (2001).

Works Lentin's research has covered a range of historical figures and topics. He has written on Peter the Great, with British historian Paul Dukes, and American historian James Cracraft describing Peter the Great: His Law on the Imperial Succession (1996) as "scholarly", with "extensive notes and commentary". He has also written on Catherine the Great.

Lentin has focused particularly on Lloyd George, using the statesman's career to explore wider issues including Germany’s role after the First World War, the impact of the war, the making of liberal foreign policies, how peace treaties shaped future conflicts, and debates over appeasement. His major works include Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson and the Guilt of Germany (1984), The Versailles peace settlement: peacemaking with Germany (1991), and Lloyd George and the Lost Peace: From Versailles to Hitler, 1919-1940 (2001). His other works includes studies of Lord Sumner, and General Smuts's role at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The peace settlement of 1919 has in addition been a feature of several of his journal articles.

Later, Lentin studied and wrote on Edgar Speyer. In his biography of Speyer, Banker, Traitor, Scapegoat, Spy? The Troublesome Case of Sir Edgar Speyer (2013), Lentin states that Speyer was crucial to funding Captain Scott's Antarctic expeditions, developing the London Underground, and founding proms.

After contributing an entry on Justice McCardie to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Lentin went on to research and write his full length biography, Mr Justice McCardie (1869-1933): Rebel, Reformer, and Rogue Judge (2016). It includes a detailed chapter on the O'Dwyer v. Nair Libel Case of 1924.

Selected publications Books

Articles