During the academic year 1912–13, Mark Hovell studied and taught at Professor Karl Lamprecht’s Institut für Kultur- und Universalgeschichte in Leipzig. During his time there, Hovell wrote regularly to his fiancée, Fanny Gately, and to his mentor, Professor Thomas Tout. This article focuses on several of Hovell’s letters held at the John Rylands Library, presenting his thoughts and observations on aspects of social, political and academic life in Germany shortly before the outbreak of the First World War.

During the academic year 1912–13, Mark Hovell studied and taught at Professor Karl Lamprecht’s Institut für Kultur- und Universalgeschichte in Leipzig. During his time there, Hovell wrote regularly to his fiancée, Fanny Gately, and to his mentor, Professor Thomas Tout. This article focuses on several of Hovell’s letters held at the John Rylands Library, presenting his thoughts and observations on aspects of social, political and academic life in Germany shortly before the outbreak of the First World War.