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 |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 56
Page
... THEIR FACTS / 65 4. SOURCES AND DISCOURSES / 89 5. CAUSATION IN HISTORY / 111 6. SOCIETY AND THE INDIVIDUAL / 139 j. KNOWLEDGE AND POWER / 165 8. OBJECTIVITY AND ITS LIMITS / 193 Notes / 221 Further Reading / 253 Index / 273.
... THEIR FACTS / 65 4. SOURCES AND DISCOURSES / 89 5. CAUSATION IN HISTORY / 111 6. SOCIETY AND THE INDIVIDUAL / 139 j. KNOWLEDGE AND POWER / 165 8. OBJECTIVITY AND ITS LIMITS / 193 Notes / 221 Further Reading / 253 Index / 273.
Page 8
... society at large can ever attain the kind of objective certainty about the great issues of our time that can serve as a reliable basis for taking vital decisions on our future in the twenty-first century. Ill IN many ways it makes sense ...
... society at large can ever attain the kind of objective certainty about the great issues of our time that can serve as a reliable basis for taking vital decisions on our future in the twenty-first century. Ill IN many ways it makes sense ...
Page 14
... society in the present. The lead in this change of direction was provided by the German historian Leopold von Ranke, a scholar whose exceptionally long life and extraordinary productivity made him into something of a legend. The author ...
... society in the present. The lead in this change of direction was provided by the German historian Leopold von Ranke, a scholar whose exceptionally long life and extraordinary productivity made him into something of a legend. The author ...
Page 18
... society was not only vastly more populous than before, not only produced many more documents, reflecting both the increase of literacy and the rapidly increasing functions of the state, but also produced new kinds of sources, from mass ...
... society was not only vastly more populous than before, not only produced many more documents, reflecting both the increase of literacy and the rapidly increasing functions of the state, but also produced new kinds of sources, from mass ...
Page 19
... society in a literary dress is no more the part of a historian as a historian, than it is the part of an astronomer to present in an artistic shape the story of the stars. Bury pointed up the contrast between history as literature and ...
... society in a literary dress is no more the part of a historian as a historian, than it is the part of an astronomer to present in an artistic shape the story of the stars. Bury pointed up the contrast between history as literature and ...
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 |
Other editions - View all
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