Butterfield's

In "The Life and Thought of Herbert Butterfield," Michael Bentley draws on a range of private letters and papers to sharpen our appreciation of Butterfield's actual accomplishments, particularly "The Whig Interpretation of History," the 1931 book that made his reputation by forcing historians to reconsider their discipline.

The Great Dissenter William Anthony Hay 2011

Butterfield's rise from a working-class upbringing in Oxenhope, Yorkshire, to Cambridge University and a high-flying academic career involved more than the traditional tale of a provincial boy made good.

The Great Dissenter William Anthony Hay 2011

Ms. Butterfield's recent horses are calligraphic and majestic; interweavings of contour, muscle, armature, intestine and spirit.

Soaring Heights, A Sense of Horses Lance Esplund 2011

A critic acidly likened Butterfield's reputation to "an inverted cone, his wide-ranging prestige balanced on a tiny platform of achievement."

The Great Dissenter William Anthony Hay 2011

But Mr. Bentley makes a strong case for Butterfield's importance, most of all as a historian who showed that understanding the past requires imaginative sympathy—the ability to see events as they were perceived by those who lived through them.

The Great Dissenter William Anthony Hay 2011

Greeting visitors at Deborah Butterfield's show of six bronze horse sculptures, her signature subject since the early 1970s, is "Many Glacier" 2011.

Soaring Heights, A Sense of Horses Lance Esplund 2011

The most famous essay – Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin's Palace of Westminster – was followed by George Gilbert Scott's Albert Memorial and William Butterfield's red and white bricked Keble College, a streaky-bacon love song to one of the century's most influential high churchmen.

British architecture: Victorian and Edwardian 2011

William Butterfield's gothic confection, half seat of learning, half Black Forest gateau, has divided residents ever since its completion in 1870.

Victorian and Edwardian buildings: examples from the era 2011

What is remarkable about Ms. Butterfield's horses is that they remain largely linear, hollow.

Soaring Heights, A Sense of Horses Lance Esplund 2011

Butterfield's views changed over the decade, however.

The Great Dissenter William Anthony Hay 2011