Michael Brock - obituary

Michael Brock, who has died aged 94, was an historian who held important positions in three Oxford Colleges and was best known as the author of The Great Reform Act (1973), which remains the standard work.

Before Brock’s book, the only existing full study of Lord Grey’s Great Reform Act of 1832 had been published in 1914, long before many relevant manuscript collections had become available. Brock’s protracted labours on his magnum opus aroused a mixture of interest, anticipation and gentle cynicism among his fellow academics – something Brock acknowledged with good humour. Caroline Jackson, a former DPhil student of his, has recalled his reply when the question of the book’s publication date was tentatively raised: “Some of you may want to know when my book on the Reform Act will actually appear, and all I can say is 'any decade now’.” ...