Editing Raymond Williams (section)

=== University education ===
Williams won a [[State Scholarship (UK)|state scholarship]] to read English at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], [[matriculating]] in 1939.<ref name="ODNB" /> While at Cambridge, he joined the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]]. Along with [[Eric Hobsbawm]], he was given the task of writing a Communist Party pamphlet about the [[Russo-Finnish War]]. He says in (''Politics and Letters'') that they "were given the job as people who could write quickly, from historical materials supplied for us. You were often in there writing about topics you did not know very much about, as a professional with words".{{sfn|Williams|1979|p=43}}

At the time, the British government was keen to support [[Finland]] in its war against the [[Soviet Union]], while still being at war with [[Nazi Germany]]. He took a second (division two) in part one of the [[tripos]] in 1941, and, after returning from war service, achieved [[first-class honours]] in part two in 1946.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB |title=Williams, Raymond Henry (1921–1988), literary scholar and novelist |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-39847 |access-date=2021-03-22 |year=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/39847}}</ref> He graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA degree in 1946: as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|Master of Arts]] (MA Cantab) degree.<ref name="WWW">{{cite web |title=Williams, Prof. Raymond Henry, (31 Aug. 1921–26 Jan. 1988), Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, since 1961 |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U170468 |website=[[Who Was Who]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=30 June 2021 |language=en |date=1 December 2007}}</ref> He was later awarded a [[higher doctorate]] by Cambridge: the [[Doctor of Letters]] (LittD) degree in 1969.<ref name="ODNB"/>