John M. Ellis is a distinguished professor emeritus of German literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He taught at universities in England, Wales, and Canada before joining UCSC in 1966, serving as dean of the Graduate Division in 1977-86. He is the author of eleven books, including Literature Lost (Yale), awarded the Peter Shaw Memorial Award by the National Association of Scholars, and most recently The Breakdown of Higher Education (Encounter Books). He founded the association of Literary Scholars from 2007-2013, continuing as chairman of its board since then. His articles on education reform have appeared in prominent national publications.
""The ideas that the Left uses to calumny Western civilization-accusing the West of violating equality, tolerance, and human rights--are exclusively the products of Western civilization. Sadly, the Left is getting away with this sleight-of-hand, as the would-be guardians of our civilization hang their heads and proclaim the West guilty as charged. A Short History of Relations Between Peoples is a bracing romp through five centuries of modernity, from 1500 forward, that provides the facts and arguments necessary to rebut the Left's lies. The stunning accomplishments of European civilization should inspire gratitude and wonder; John Ellis explains why.""--Heather Mac Donald, author of When Race Trumps Merit and The War on Cops ""The most popular historical method of contemporary scholars is boiling down past civilizations into to pint-sized caricatures in order to effortlessly condemn them. It's cheap and boring. And it hides a complicated and fascinating history. John Ellis is one of those vanishingly rare academics who looks at the popular prejudices of our time, which everyone thinks or desperately hopes are true, and dismantles them with wit, elegance, learning, and intelligence.""--Arthur Milikh, Executive Director of the Claremont Institute's Center for the American Way of Life