R. F. Foster (historian)

thumb|The best history is written when we realize that people acted...in expectation of a future that was never going to happen...That's...true of the histories of most countries, but very true of the history of Ireland. Robert Fitzroy Foster FBA FRHistS FRSL (born 16 January 1949), publishing as R. F. Foster, is an Irish historian and academic. He was the Carroll Professor of Irish History from 1991 until 2016 at Hertford College, Oxford. Quotes Something I wrote long ago, which has been quoted once or twice, is that the best history is written when we realize that people acted in terms, in belief of, in expectation of a future that was never going to happen. And I think that’s very true of — well, it’s true of the histories of most countries, but very true of the history of Ireland. Interview by Tyler Cowen, "Roy Foster on Ireland's Many Unmade Futures", Conversations with Tyler, ep. 147 (6 April 2022) External links Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:Historians from Ireland Category:Trinity College Dublin alumni Category:University of Oxford faculty