In Defense of HistoryA master practitioner gives us an entertaining tour of the historian's workshop and a spirited defense of the search for historical truth. E. H. Carr's What Is History?, a classic introduction to the field, may now give way to a worthy successor. In his compact, intriguing survey, Richard J. Evans shows us how historians manage to extract meaning from the recalcitrant past. To materials that are frustratingly meager, or overwhelmingly profuse, they bring an array of tools that range from agreed-upon rules of documentation and powerful computer models to the skilled investigator's sudden insight, all employed with the aim of reconstructing a verifiable, usable past. Evans defends this commitment to historical knowledge from the attacks of postmodernist critics who see all judgments as subjective. Evans brings "a remarkable range, a nose for the archives, a taste for controversy, and a fluent pen" (The New Republic) to this splendid work. "Essential reading for coming generations."-Keith Thomas |
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Page 1
... Carr and Sir Geoffrey Elton. E. H. Carr's What Is History? has been widely used as an introduction to historical study by teachers and students since its first publication in 1961, and it is easy to see why. Carr was a practicing ...
... Carr and Sir Geoffrey Elton. E. H. Carr's What Is History? has been widely used as an introduction to historical study by teachers and students since its first publication in 1961, and it is easy to see why. Carr was a practicing ...
Page 2
... Carr's relativistic approach to historical study, it is common practice to pit G. R. Elton's The Practice of History ... Carr championed a sociological approach to the past, Elton declared that any serious historical work should have a ...
... Carr's relativistic approach to historical study, it is common practice to pit G. R. Elton's The Practice of History ... Carr championed a sociological approach to the past, Elton declared that any serious historical work should have a ...
Page 3
... Carr, more obviously than the arrival in the 19805 of postmodernist theory, which has called into question many, if not most, of the arguments put forward by both of them.' Instead of causes, which Carr regarded as central to historical ...
... Carr, more obviously than the arrival in the 19805 of postmodernist theory, which has called into question many, if not most, of the arguments put forward by both of them.' Instead of causes, which Carr regarded as central to historical ...
Page 7
... Carr and Elton is a serious one. Some of the intellectual barbarians at the disciplinary gates are loitering there with distinctly hostile intent. "Autumn," declared the Dutch postmodernist Frank Ankersmit triumphantly in 1990, "has ...
... Carr and Elton is a serious one. Some of the intellectual barbarians at the disciplinary gates are loitering there with distinctly hostile intent. "Autumn," declared the Dutch postmodernist Frank Ankersmit triumphantly in 1990, "has ...
Page 8
... Carr and Elton wrote, and in the process it has developed its own concepts and its own jargon, which have made it often rather impenetrable to outsiders. Some have indeed argued that the nature of historical explanation is a topic best ...
... Carr and Elton wrote, and in the process it has developed its own concepts and its own jargon, which have made it often rather impenetrable to outsiders. Some have indeed argued that the nature of historical explanation is a topic best ...
Contents
13 | |
History Science and Morality | 39 |
Historians and Their Facts | 65 |
Sources and Discourses | 89 |
Causation in History | 111 |
Society and the Individual | 139 |
Knowledge and Power | 165 |
Objectivity and Its Limits | 193 |
Notes | 221 |
Further Reading | 253 |
Index | 273 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abraham American historian American Historical Review Ankersmit Annales school Appleby approach argued argument Arthur Marwick belief Britain British Cambridge Carr's causes claim concept contemporary course critics critique cultural debate declared Deconstructing discipline discourse documents Dominick LaCapra E. H. Carr England English European evidence example Frank Ankersmit French Geoffrey Elton Hayden White historians historical fact historical knowledge historical profession historical research historical scholarship Historiography History and Post-Modernism History London Holocaust denial human Ibid ideas ideology Intellectual History interpretation Journal Joyce Keith Jenkins kind LaCapra language Lawrence Stone linguistic turn literary Marxist material meaning methods modern moral Moreover Munslow Namier narrative Novick objective Oxford past perspective postmodernism postmodernist practice present Purkiss R. G. Collingwood Revolution rians scientific sense Sir Geoffrey Elton Social History social sciences society sources theory things thought tion torians torical tory traditional truth written