In Defense of HistoryE. 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 3
... sense of gloom . " A time of uncertainty and of epistemological crisis ; a critical turning point : such , " observed the French historian Roger Chartier in 1994 , " are the diagnoses , mostly apprehensive , given of history in recent ...
... sense of gloom . " A time of uncertainty and of epistemological crisis ; a critical turning point : such , " observed the French historian Roger Chartier in 1994 , " are the diagnoses , mostly apprehensive , given of history in recent ...
Page 4
... sense of crisis being universal among practicing his- torians , many commentators have discerned a widespread sense of complacency among historians in the mid - 1980s . While American intellectual historian Allan Megill indicted the ...
... sense of crisis being universal among practicing his- torians , many commentators have discerned a widespread sense of complacency among historians in the mid - 1980s . While American intellectual historian Allan Megill indicted the ...
Page 6
... sense among historians that the enterprise in which they were engaged was under severe and unprecedented attack . Elton roundly denounced postmodernist ideas on history as " menacing , " " destruc- tive , " " absurd , " and ...
... sense among historians that the enterprise in which they were engaged was under severe and unprecedented attack . Elton roundly denounced postmodernist ideas on history as " menacing , " " destruc- tive , " " absurd , " and ...
Page 8
... sense , the problem of how historians approach the acquisition of knowledge about the past , and whether they can ever wholly succeed in this enterprise , can stand for the much bigger problem of how far society at large can ever attain ...
... sense , the problem of how historians approach the acquisition of knowledge about the past , and whether they can ever wholly succeed in this enterprise , can stand for the much bigger problem of how far society at large can ever attain ...
Page 9
... sense . " Nor have the few historians who have actually ventured to write about their discipline necessarily earned the plaudits of their col- leagues . " Historians , " the Oxford specialist on French history Theodore Zeldin has ...
... sense . " Nor have the few historians who have actually ventured to write about their discipline necessarily earned the plaudits of their col- leagues . " Historians , " the Oxford specialist on French history Theodore Zeldin has ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abraham American historian American Historical Review Ankersmit Annales school 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 G. M. Trevelyan Geoffrey Elton Hayden White historians historical fact historical knowledge historical profession historical research historical scholarship historical writing Historiography History and Post-Modernism History London Holocaust denial human Ibid ideas Intellectual History interpretation J. H. Hexter Journal Joyce Keith Jenkins kind LaCapra language Lawrence Stone linguistic turn literary Marxist meaning modern moral Moreover Munslow Namier narrative Novick objective Oxford past postmodernism postmodernist practice present Purkiss Revolution rians scientific sense Sir Geoffrey Elton Social History social sciences society sources theory things thought tion torians torical tory traditional Trevelyan truth written