Historian. He belonged to one of those Cambridge academic and clerical dynasties. An ancestor Zachary Brooke, had been Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity. His first cousin, Tresillian Nicholas, was famed in Trinity College for his longevity. Brooke's mother died when he was four; his father was a lawyer with the Inland Revenue, an austere Victorian autocrat. He was educated at Bradfield and St. John's College, Cambridge. At first he read Classics and then returned to History, taking Firsts in both, in 1905 - 1906. During WWI he served on the Western Front, and was invalided home with trench fever. He married Rose Stanton, a clergyman's daughter, who had nursed him. In 1908 he became a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College and remained for the rest of his life. In 1921 he took on, with C.W. Previte-Orton, the editorship of "Cambridge Medieval History", which weighed him down for many years. This, together with oppressively exacting scholarly standards, meant that this output was less than it might have neen. He published two books: "The English Church and the Papcy" (1931) and "A History of Europe, 911 - 1198 (1938). A definitive work on the Gregorian reform of the church never emerged. In 1944 he was appointed to a chair but held it for only three years, he died suddenly from a heart attack at his home, 19 Wilberforce Road, Cambridge. on 7 October 1946.

He was elected FBA in 1940. He was a shy but warm-hearted man, and a devout Anglican.

Historian. He belonged to one of those Cambridge academic and clerical dynasties. An ancestor Zachary Brooke, had been Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity. His first cousin, Tresillian Nicholas, was famed in Trinity College for his longevity. Brooke's mother died when he was four; his father was a lawyer with the Inland Revenue, an austere Victorian autocrat. He was educated at Bradfield and St. John's College, Cambridge. At first he read Classics and then returned to History, taking Firsts in both, in 1905 - 1906. During WWI he served on the Western Front, and was invalided home with trench fever. He married Rose Stanton, a clergyman's daughter, who had nursed him. In 1908 he became a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College and remained for the rest of his life. In 1921 he took on, with C.W. Previte-Orton, the editorship of "Cambridge Medieval History", which weighed him down for many years. This, together with oppressively exacting scholarly standards, meant that this output was less than it might have neen. He published two books: "The English Church and the Papcy" (1931) and "A History of Europe, 911 - 1198 (1938). A definitive work on the Gregorian reform of the church never emerged. In 1944 he was appointed to a chair but held it for only three years, he died suddenly from a heart attack at his home, 19 Wilberforce Road, Cambridge. on 7 October 1946.

He was elected FBA in 1940. He was a shy but warm-hearted man, and a devout Anglican.