ABSTRACT
Allen’s power to synthesise, generalise and find fruitful interconnections between
them is remarkable. It is true that Allen was, at bottom, a populariser and educator,
and no original thinker. It is also true that a few contemporaries matched or
surpassed even his productive industry. But his distinctive blend of skills were
developed to a higher pitch than anywhere else in his intellectual milieu. Allen was
what is usually called a generalist, but it is tempting to call him a specialist who
specialised in everything.
