This is the second part of the H-Diplo/ISSF Tribute to the Life, Scholarship, and Legacy of Robert Jervis, who passed away last December. The first part, which we published in February,^[1] included over forty contributions, plus some other material:  Bob’s essay in our “Learning the Scholar’s Craft” series, references to other articles in which he discussed his career, and lists of his formal and his informal writings.

H-Diplo | ISSF Tribute to the Life, Scholarship, and Legacy of Robert Jervis: Part II
26 August 2022 

Organizers: Richard H. Immerman, Diane Labrosse, and Marc Trachtenberg
Production Editor: George Fujii

Editors’ Foreword
by Richard Immerman, Diane Labrosse, and Marc Trachtenberg

This is the second part of the H-Diplo/ISSF Tribute to the Life, Scholarship, and Legacy of Robert Jervis, who passed away last December. The first part, which we published in February,^[1] included over forty contributions, plus some other material:  Bob’s essay in our “Learning the Scholar’s Craft” series, references to other articles in which he discussed his career, and lists of his formal and his informal writings.

Most of the contributors to Part I addressed what Bob meant to them in both intellectual and human terms, often in a very moving way.  But even the most personal essays touched on some of the scholarly issues Bob was concerned with.  Re-reading those essays today, and going through those lists of his writings, one is struck by the wide-ranging nature of his scholarly interests, and by his massive contribution in all sorts of areas.

A number of our invited essayists wanted to explore certain issues related to Bob’s work in depth. Some of them felt that they did not have enough time to produce the sort of essays they wanted to write for our February forum. Others, who very much wanted to take part because of their respect or affection for Bob, could not meet the original deadline for other reasons.  We decided that it would make sense to divide the forum into two parts, scheduling the second one for publication this summer.

The result is the collection of essays which you are about to read.  It begins with a wonderful piece by Bob’s daughter Alexa that served as the eulogy she gave at the memorial service for her father in New York in February.^[2] Twenty contributions from Bob’s friends, former students, and academic colleagues follow—some short and personal, others longer and more scholarly.

We would like to end by saying how much it has meant to us to have been involved with this project.  Bob was an important part of our lives, and we are profoundly gratified to see how important he was to so many other people as well, and in so many ways.  Over sixty people contributed to the two forums. For those of us who knew Bob personally, the forums have provided a chance to share our feelings about him and to appreciate the fact that we are part of a community—that we have something in common that goes well beyond a set of shared intellectual interests.  It is quite extraordinary that even though Bob is no longer with us, he is still bringing us together in this way.

 

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The full tribute is available solely as a PDF file due to its length.

ISSF Jervis Tribute, Part 2 [PDF]

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Notes

[1] H-Diplo/ISSF Tribute to the Life, Scholarship, and Legacy of Robert Jervis: Part I, eds., Richard H. Immerman, Diane Labrosse, and Marc Trachtenberg, February 4, 2004; https://issforum.org/ISSF/PDF/ISSF-Jervis-Tribute-1.pdf.

[2] The service is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeVwPFG_5Rk.