Bernard Bailyn was born on September 10, 1922 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He was married to Lotte Lazarsfeld. He died on August 7, 2020 in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA.
He was a Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian who is best known for his interpretation of the motivations for the American Revolution.
At first he studied medieval and German history at Williams College in Massachusetts, returning after service in the Army Signal Corps during WWII. He earned a master's degree and a doctorate in history from Harvard.