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
... research and write about it, and how we read it. In the postmodern age, historians are being compelled to address ... History? has been widely used as an introduction to historical study by teachers and students since its first ...
... research and write about it, and how we read it. In the postmodern age, historians are being compelled to address ... History? has been widely used as an introduction to historical study by teachers and students since its first ...
Page 4
... history," in which the traditional practice of the discipline "is a visibly deteriorating path to research grants, publication, conferences and academic employment."'5 Such has been the power and influence of the postmodernist critique ...
... history," in which the traditional practice of the discipline "is a visibly deteriorating path to research grants, publication, conferences and academic employment."'5 Such has been the power and influence of the postmodernist critique ...
Page 12
... historical scholarship for a generation? It would of course be going too far to draw a parallel between postmodernism and ... historical research ought to mean that they have something to contribute which those who have not shared this ...
... historical scholarship for a generation? It would of course be going too far to draw a parallel between postmodernism and ... historical research ought to mean that they have something to contribute which those who have not shared this ...
Page 16
... historical sources was a major breakthrough. Ranke 's principles still form the basis for much historical research and teaching today. Advanced, document- based seminars in many contemporary universities, for example, offer a basic ...
... historical sources was a major breakthrough. Ranke 's principles still form the basis for much historical research and teaching today. Advanced, document- based seminars in many contemporary universities, for example, offer a basic ...
Page 17
... research continues to employ the mid-nineteenth- century device of "Koch's ... historical study, it, too, was regarded as a "scientific" technique. Its use ... History of History 17.
... research continues to employ the mid-nineteenth- century device of "Koch's ... historical study, it, too, was regarded as a "scientific" technique. Its use ... History of History 17.
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