Anthony Birch

Anthony Harold Birch (17 February 1924 – 13 December 2014) was a British scholar and an expert in British politics and comparative politics. He was a leading figure in the development of Britain's distinctive school of political science. Political historians have cited his influential works on representation, the British government, federalism, nationalism, and national integration extensively.

Birch was born in North London and attended the William Ellis Grammar School in Gospel Oak. After graduating from William Ellis Grammar School, he earned an economics degree at the University College, Nottingham graduating with first class honors in 1945. He was unable to serve in the Second World War due to poor health. After the war, he joined the Board of Trade as an assistant principal and remained there for two years. His passion for scholarship motivated him to enroll in the London School of Economics to pursue a PhD. under Harold Laski. His doctoral work was a comparative study of federalism and public finance in Canada, Australia, and the United States. He obtained his doctorate in 1951. Shortly thereafter, he was awarded a scholarship from the Commonwealth Fund to pursue further studies in the United States as a Harkness Fellow at Harvard University and the University of Chicago. He subsequently revised his dissertation and it was published in 1955 in his first book: Federalism, Finance and Social Legislation in Canada, Australia and the United States (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955).

...
Wikipedia