Historiography Books

Book Synopsis'Should be read by anyone who cares about the past and the way we think and write about it' Independent on Sunday At a time when fact and historical truth are under unprecedented assault, historian Richard Evans shows us why history is necessary. Taking us into the historians' workshop to show us just how good history gets written, he demolishes the wilder claims of postmodern historians, who deny the possibility of any realistic grasp of the subject. In one of the most important lessons for today he explains the deadly political dangers of losing a historical perspective on the way we live our lives. With wit, wisdom and incisive insight, this is a book to inspire faith in the practice of historians and the worth of learning from the past. In Defence of History is the definitive argument for the craft of history and the vital worth of historians to civilization. 'A subtle, engaged, brilliantly barbed and often amusing case for historical truth...' Sunday Times 'Brilliantly readable' Antonia Fraser 'Arguably the most talented social historian of his generation' Niall Ferguson 'An excellent primer... A model of lucid and intelligent historiographical analysis' GuardianTrade ReviewA magisterial polemic * Independent *Arguably the most talented social historian of his generation -- Niall FergusonAn excellent primer on central issues of historical practice ... exemplary in his handling of sensitive episodes...a model of lucid and intelligent historiographical analysis * Guardian *A subtle, engaged, brilliantly barbed and often amusing case for historical truth * Sunday Times *Brilliantly readable -- Antonia FraserThis is a wise and sensible book, which should be read by anyone who cares about the past and the way we think and write about it * Independent on Sunday *Richard Evans offers a spirited and elegant defence of the discipline...while demonstrating with wit and acumen that historians have never been quite so credulous as is sometimes suggested * Times *

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Book SynopsisCHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NEW STATESMAN AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE''In this searing book, Priya Satia demonstrates, yet again, that she is one of our most brilliant and original historians'' Sunil Amrith, author of Unruly WatersFor generations, the history of the British empire was written by its victors. British historians'' accounts of conquest guided the consolidation of imperial rule in India, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean. Their narratives of the development of imperial governance licensed the brutal suppression of colonial rebellion. Their reimagining of empire during the two world wars compromised the force of decolonization.In this brilliant work, Priya Satia shows how these historians not only interpreted the major political events of their time but also shaped the future that followed. History emerged as a mode of ethics in the modern period, endowing historians from John Stuart Mill to Winston Churchill with outsized policymaking power. Braided with this story is an account of alternative visions articulated by anticolonial thinkers such as William Blake, Mahatma Gandhi and E. P. Thompson. By the mid-twentieth century, their approaches had reshaped the discipline of history and the ethics that came with it.Time''s Monster reveals the dramatic consequences of writing history today as much as in the past. Against the backdrop of enduring global inequalities and debates about reparations and the legacy of empire, Satia offers us a hugely important and urgent moral voice.Trade ReviewMuch of the best scholarship today is ­distinguished by a vigorous and sustained challenge to old imperialist verities. Priya Satia's Time's Monster, which comes out of a long, if little-noticed, intellectual ­counter-tradition in Asia and Europe, bracingly describes how our moral and political imagination became so constrained and how it could be liberated -- Pankaj Mishra, * New Statesman, Books of the Year *Vital. . . a coruscating and important reworking of the relationship between history, historians and empire -- Kenan Malik * Observer *Phenomenal . . . in asking how British men felt able to justify running an empire rooted in violence and systemic inequality, Satia's discussion of this ethical conundrum runs into wonderfully imaginative, even astronomical and spiritual spaces -- Priya Atwal * BBC History Magazine *Priya Satia's book dazzles by its brilliance but also points to other enigmas and mysteries that historians have to confront and unravel * The Wire *Turns the lens on history as a subject, asking how we have told the story of empire in the past. Satia offers a scholarly and analytical interpretation of how historians themselves have framed the ways that empire is understood in British history writing - from John Stuart Mill to EP Thompson -- Yasmin Khan * BBC History Magazine, Books of the Year *A meditative, intensive and sweeping critique of the discipline of history . . . an important book * History Today *Fearless . . . A book that puts the historian's craft to brilliant use in examining the philosophical and conceptual foundations of the discipline of History -- Amitav GhoshNot only a sweeping account of the British Empire over the past three centuries, but also an ambitious intellectual history, touching on everything from the Mahabharata to Marx, and from Shakespeare to Said. . . This urgent and compelling book encourages us to listen to different voices, to tell different stories, and ultimately to rethink what it means to be a historian and to engage critically and imaginatively with the past -- Kim Wagner, author of Amritsar 1919In this searing book, Priya Satia demonstrates, yet again, that she is one of our most brilliant and original historians. Time's Monster casts new light on the British Empire by homing in on a fundamental question --how did 'good' men, acutely concerned with their consciences, preside over systematic exploitation and repeated atrocities? Satia shows that only if we grapple with the complicity of historians in assuaging their moral qualms can we confront empire's darkest legacies in our troubled world -- Sunil Amrith, author of Unruly WatersDeeply thought-provoking and incisively argued, Time's Monster is sure to become a classic for anyone interested in European empires and the role of history in shaping human behaviour. In this extraordinary book, Priya Satia weaves wide-ranging evidence into a lively narrative, proving incontrovertibly why she is one of the most important historians of our time. -- Caroline Elkins, author of Imperial ReckoningA pathbreaking study of the historical imagination's founding in colonialism. Moving from historical counternarratives to anti-historical thinking and poetry, Priya Satia guides us through important new ways of understanding the imperial past and its effects on our shared future. -- Faisal Devji, author of The Impossible IndianA deeply insightful account of the way historical thinking informs the exercise of power. If historians are to play a positive role in the struggle to bend the arc of human history away from tyranny and toward justice, the lessons of this book should weigh heavily on our collective conscience. But more than that, this work is indispensable for anyone who wants to understand how the way we know the past shapes our future possibilities -- Vincent Brown, author of Tacky’s RevoltA magisterial account of the role of history in the making of the British Empire. At a moment of chronic hand-wringing over the decline of the historical profession and the crisis of the humanities, Time's Monster is an especially welcome addition for understanding how history can be used and misused. -- Dinyar Patel, author of NaorojiHistory writing once burnished the monument of imperial progress, and continues to do so for many audiences today. In her brilliant and coruscating account of the uses of history in the making and unmaking of the British empire, Priya Satia offers a striking new way of confronting the problems that continue to plague contemporary societies. This is a bravura performance -- Samuel Moyn, author of Not EnoughAs people around the globe struggle against a world order that owes its existence to rampant resource exploitation and dehumanizing beliefs about racial hierarchies, Priya Satia has given us a timely and powerful reminder about the complicity of history, as a discipline, in the making of that order. -- Jacob Dlamini, author of The Terrorist Album

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Book SynopsisAlan Bullock's bestselling and monumental masterpiece, now in a revised Second EditionIt is practically unprecedented to take two such monsters as Hitler and Stalin, who never met, and interweave their lives chronologically, chapter by chapter, often paragraph by paragraph, as Bullock has donea triumph of organization, lucidity and perspective.' John Campbell, The TimesCompulsive reading. The sweep is broad and the information concisely conveyed without any sign of pedantrya titanic narrative history.' Zara Steiner, Financial TimesAn astonishing feat of organization, brilliantly illuminating the tragic history of the twentieth century.' Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph Books of the YearIf you knew nothing about the twentieth century and were allowed one book to bone up on it, this would have to be it.' Alex Campbell, Daily Mail

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Book Synopsis The result of extensive collaboration among leading scholars from across Europe, Conceptual History in the European Space represents a landmark intervention in the historiography of concepts. It brings together ambitious thematic studies that combine the pioneering methods of historian Reinhart Koselleck with contemporary insights and debates, each one illuminating a key feature of the European conceptual landscape. With clarifying overviews of such contested theoretical terrain as translatability, spatiality, and center-periphery dynamics, it also provides indispensable contextualization for an era of widespread disenchantment with and misunderstanding of the European project.Trade Review “It seems, judging by the arguments, strategies, and agenda presented in this book, that we will see a most welcome new wave of theoretical debate within and about conceptual history, which will continue to bring invaluable debates and previously unthematized phenomena into our attention.” • Contributions to the History of Concepts “This volume should be celebrated as a precious space for innovation, at a time when new methodological perspectives tend to be placed under intense scrutiny by mainstream historical scholarship. It can therefore be recommended to all readers interested in current trends and developments within historical methodology.” • J@rgonia “Taken together, these essays represent a landmark in conceptual history's theoretical and methodological development. They are a testament to its practitioners' creative and fruitful engagement with methods and approaches forged beyond the field of intellectual history. By adding layers of depth to our understanding of both concepts and the semantic fields in which they have operated, their authors go some way towards establishing a post-Koselleckian research agenda that can allow conceptual history to flourish as it expands its own horizons of possibility.” • SehepunkteTable of Contents List of Figures Introduction: Conceptual History: Challenges, Conundrums, Complexities Willibald Steinmetz and Michael Freeden Chapter 1. Europe at Different Speeds: Asynchronicities and Multiple Times in European Conceptual History Helge Jordheim Chapter 2. Multiple Transformations: Temporal Frameworks for a European Conceptual History Willibald Steinmetz Chapter 3. Concepts and Debates: Rhetorical Perspectives on Conceptual Change Kari Palonen Chapter 4. Conceptual History, Ideology and Language Michael Freeden Chapter 5. Transnational Conceptual History, Methodological Nationalism and Europe Jani Marjanen Chapter 6. Conceptual History: The Comparative Dimension Jörn Leonhard Chapter 7. Concepts, Contests and Contexts: Conceptual History and the Problem of Translatability László Kontler Chapter 8. Conceptualizing Spaces within Europe: The Case of Meso-Regions Diana Mishkova and Balázs Trencsényi Chapter 9. Conceptualizing Modernity in Multi- and Intercultural Spaces: The Case of Central and Eastern Europe Victor Neumann Chapter 10. Concepts in a Nordic Periphery Henrik Stenius Conclusions: Setting the Agenda for a European Conceptual History Javier Fernández-Sebastián Index

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Book SynopsisStarting with the most meagre resources, Philip made his kingdom the greatest power in EuropeThe Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily is one of our most valuable sources from ancient times. His history, in forty volumes, was intended to range from mythological times to 60 BCE, and fifteen of The Library''s forty books survive. This new translation by Robin Waterfield of books 16-20 covers a vital period in European history. Book 16 is devoted to Philip, and without it the career of this great king would be far more obscure to us. Book 17 is the earliest surviving account by over a hundred years of the world-changing eastern conquests of Alexander the Great, Philip''s son. Books 18-20 constitute virtually our sole source of information on the twenty turbulent years following Alexander''s death and on the violent path followed by Agathocles of Syracuse. There are fascinating snippets of history from elsewhere too - from Republican Rome, the Cimmerian Bosporus, and elsewhere.Despite his obvTable of ContentsIntroduction Select Bibliography Maps Synopsis of Books 16-20 The Library Book 16 Book 17 Book 18 Book 19 Book 20 Explanatory Notes Textual Notes Glossary Appendix 1: Diodorus' Sources for Books 16-20 Appendix 2: Roman Consuls of Books 16-20 Index of Proper Names

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Book SynopsisThe extent and irreversibility of US decline is becoming ever more obvious as America loses war after war and as one industry after another loses its technological edge. Lachmann explains why the United States will not be able to sustain its global dominance. He contrasts America’s relatively brief period of hegemony with the Netherlands’ similarly short primacy and Britain’s far longer era of leadership.Decline in all those cases was not inevitable and did not respond to global capitalist cycles. Rather, decline is the product of elites’ success in grabbing control of resources and governmental powers. Not only are ordinary people harmed, but also capitalists become increasingly unable to coordinate their interests and adopt policies and make investments necessary to counter economic and geopolitical competitors elsewhere in the world.Conflicts among elites and challenges by non-elites determine the timing and mould the contours of decline. Lach

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Book SynopsisIn A Sextet on the Great War, Perry Anderson picks out from the highly charged historiography on the First World War one leading historian from each of the major powers that survived the conflagration: Fritz Fischer, famous historian of German war-guilt; Pierre Renouvin, a disabled serviceman and preeminent authority on the conflict in France; Luigi Albertini, the Italian newspaper tycoon who unlike any other scholar on the Grear War was himself a leading actor in pitching his country into it; Paul W. Schroeder, the American expert on the system of European interstate relations and its breakdown in 1914; Keith Wilson, the one radical deviant from a patriotic consensus in Britain about the country’s role in the outbreak of the fighting; and, from Australia (a dominion dragooned into the Great War by the British), Christopher Clark, acclaimed author of The Sleepwalkers and Revolutionary Spring. A Sextet on the Great War is a compelling analytical

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Shortlisted for the Apollo Awards Book of the Year, Apollo Magazine""In a complex and overall highly original and learned set of narratives unfolding chronologically (1400–1960), Wood weaves together a series of subplots: relativism versus presentism, form versus content, chronologies of forms versus shapes of time, idealism versus realism, and the de- and re-enchantment of art. . . . As Wood’s rewriting of the discipline’s history according to the categories of relativism and presentism indicate, he is laying out a philosophy of history. Drawing on Friedrich Nietzsche, Hayden White, and Michel Foucault’s categories of history writing, he also traces a history of art history’s historical models, starting with the annalistic, or 'roll-call art history'. . . . A robust discussion of the substantive issues he raises is both merited and called for."---Evonne Levy, Art Bulletin

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Book SynopsisA delightful compendium of the kind of facts you immediately want to share with anyone you encounter' New York TimesAn ebullient, irrepressible spirit invests this book. It is erudite and sprightly'Sunday TimesFrom the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classeshere is award-winning writer Simon Winchester's brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds.With the advent of the internet, any topic we want to know about is instantly available with the touch of a smartphone button. With so much knowledge at our fingertips, what is there left for our brains to do? At a time when we seem to be stripping all value from the idea of knowing things no need for maths, no need for map reading, no need for memorisation are we risking our ability to think? As we empty our minds, will we one day be incapable of thoughtfulness?Addressing these questions, Simon Winchester explores how humans have attained, stored and disseminated knowledge. Examining such disciplines as education, journalism, encyclopedia creation, museum curation, photography and broadcasting, he looks at a whole range of knowledge diffusion from the cuneiform writings of Babylon to the machine-made genius of artificial intelligence, by way of Gutenberg, Google and Wikipedia to the huge Victorian assemblage of the Mundaneum, the collection of everything ever known, currently stored in a damp basement in northern Belgium.Studded with strange and fascinating details, Knowing What We Know is a deep dive into learning and the human mind. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom? Does René Descartes' Cogito, ergo sum'''I think, therefore I am', the foundation for human knowledge widely accepted since the Enlightenmentstill hold?And what will the world be like if no one in it is wise?

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Book SynopsisA magisterial, one-volume history of political thought from Herodotus to the present, Ancient Athens to modern democracy - from author and professor Alan RyanThis is a book about the answers that historians, philosophers, theologians, practising politicians and would-be revolutionaries have given to one question: how should human beings best govern themselves? Almost every modern government claims to be democratic; but is democracy really the best way of organising our political life? Can we manage our own affairs at all? Should we even try? In the west, do we actually live in democracies? In this extraordinary book Alan Ryan engages with the great thinkers of the past to show us how vividly their ideas speak to us in today''s uncertain world.ALAN RYAN was born in London in 1940 and taught for many years at Oxford, where he was a Fellow of New College and Reader in Politics. He was Professor of Politics at Princeton from 1988 to 1996, when he reTrade Review[A] magnificent piece of work, clear (even when the ideas he's exploring are obscure) and engaging (even when the theory is forbidding) ... It's a remarkable experience -- Jeremy Waldron * New York Review of Books *A brave and clever book ... crammed with smart observations and wise advice -- John Keane * Financial Times *Concise, lucid ... despite covering huge intellectual terrain, On Politics is a delight both when it explores detail and also when it draws conclusions of a broader perspective -- Justin Champion * BBC History Magazine *

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Book SynopsisA global history of historical writing, thought and the development of the historical discipline from the ancient world to the present. This is a definitive guide to human efforts to recover, understand and represent the past, bringing together different historical traditions and their social, economic, political and cultural contexts. Daniel Woolf offers clear definitions of different genres and forms of history and addresses key themes such as the interactions between West and East, the conflict of oral, pictographic, and written accounts of the past and the place of history in society and in politics. Numerous textual extracts and illustrations in every chapter capture the historical cultures of past civilizations and demonstrate the different forms that historical consciousness has taken around the world. The book offers unique insights into the interconnections between different historical cultures over 3000 years and relates the rise of history to key themes in world history.Trade Review'This is the first comprehensive one-volume history of historical writing from earliest times to the present. Its strength lies in its broad intercultural approach. It is very readable and I recommend it highly as a text in courses and seminars in historiography and comparative intellectual history.' Georg G. Iggers, State University of New York, Buffalo'Woolf's book offers us a genuinely global study of the history of history, a lucid and balanced synthesis and one that makes a serious attempt to avoid the twin dangers of Eurocentrism and present-mindedness, emphasizing as it does the multiple roads to the past.' Peter Burke, University of Cambridge'This is a very knowledgeable and comprehensive history of world historiography. Woolf, a recognized expert in this area, has combined chronology and geography, including Africa and the Near and Far East as well as Europe and the US; and his solution works very well. The field of global history is relatively new and this is a bold and effective effort to encompass it in a single volume.' Donald Kelley, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey'This is a formidable work, at once open to the multiplicity of different traditions in historiography across the world and able to shape them into an impressive narrative without artificially doing so by emphasizing linkages and interactions. The illustrations are pertinent and the use of inset passages is helpful. This book will offer much to scholars and students alike.' History'A considerable, even astounding, achievement. It might yet become a defining moment in the field.' English Historical Review'… the book's broadness in coverage (which is shown not only in the text itself but also, very ingeniously and usefully, in the 'text extracts' and 'subject boxes'), is not only unprecedented but, in my opinion, also difficult for anyone to surpass in the foreseeable future … this is a valuable book, marking a worthwhile attempt to re-imagine and re-present the study of historiography. It deserves to be read not only by history students taking courses on historiography and historical methods but also by all practising historians interested in knowing more about their profession.' Q. Edward Wang, Journal of Global History'… it impresses with its well-thought-out structure, accessible language, concise presentation of complex issues, and, on top of that, some original interpretations, which make it interesting to professional historians, too.' The Historical Journal'… a very intelligent and comprehensive account that represents the current status of our knowledge about history writing across the last millennia and across all continents.' International Journal for History, Culture and ModernityTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Foundations; 2. History during the first millennium AD; 3. An age of global violence, c.1000 to c.1450; 4. History in the early modern empires: Europe, China, Islam; 5. Transatlantic histories: contact, conquest and cultural exchange 1450–1800; 6. Progress and history in the Eurasian Enlightenments; 7. The broken mirror: nationalism, romanticism and professionalization in the nineteenth-century West; 8. Clio's empire: European historiography in Asia, the Americas and Africa; 9. Babel's tower: history in the twentieth century; Epilogue.

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Book SynopsisAn updated edition of this unique, bestselling history of the IRA, now including behind-the-scenes information on the recent advances made in the peace process.Tim Pat Coogan's classic The IRA provides the only fair-minded, comprehensive history of the organization that has transformed the Irish nationalist movement this century. With clarity and detachment, Coogan examines the IRA's origins, its foreign links, the bombing campaigns, hunger strikes and sectarian violence, and now their role in the latest attempt to bring peace to Northern Ireland.Meticulously researched, and backed up by interviews with past and present members of the organization, Tim Pat Coogan's book is an authoritative and compelling account of modern Irish history from the point of view of one of its most controversial major participants.Trade Review‘No student of Irish history can afford to ignore this book. No scholar is likely to improve upon it… A fascinating book, of the greatest possible value to us all’TLS ‘A very sensible and fair-minded assessment of a uniquely controversial organization’The Times ‘Remarkably comprehensive’Economist

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Book Synopsis''An extraordinary book ... exceptionally fascinating, always readable and penetratingly intelligent'' David Abulafia''As rich, funny and teemingly peopled as Anthony Powell''s A Dance to the Music of Time ... Dinshaw writes with wit and elegance, and the most elegiac passages of Outlandish Knight evoke a lost society London and way of life'' Ben Judah, Financial Times''This dazzling young writer is a mine of fascinating, memorable and totally useless information... I have been riveted by this book from start to finish, and leave the reader with one word of advice. Watch Minoo Dinshaw. He will go far'' John Julius Norwich, Sunday TelegraphThe biography of one of the greatest British historians - but also of a uniquely strange and various manIn his enormously long life, Steven Runciman managed not just to be a great historian of the Crusades and Byzantium, but Grand Orator of the Orthodox Church, a membeTrade ReviewBrilliantly entertaining ... Mr Dinshaw's choice of subject for his first book is an inspired one. He interweaves the strands of a long and variegated life with sympathy, elegance and awareness of the wider picture ... Mr Dinshaw has done Runciman proud. To whom will he turn his attention next? * Economist *Minoo Dinshaw's biography is itself a splendid mosaic, a careful and well-written account ... I wonder where Minoo Dinshaw goes from here. His is a splendid book, to be put at once onto the Wolfson Prize shortlist. -- Norman Stone * Oldie *An astonishing feat of empathy as well as research ... What keeps the reader's interest on every page is, precisely, this biographer's sensitivity to atmosphere and his humorous awareness ... Near-omniscient thoroughness, gentle humour and psychological precision. -- Noel Malcolm * New Statesman *'An extraordinary book ... exceptionally fascinating, always readable and penetratingly intelligent account of one of Britain's most distinguished and colourful historians' -- David Abulafia * Standpoint *More than a biography; it is also a work of substantial literary criticism... This dazzling young writer is a mine of fascinating, memorable and totally useless information... I have been riveted by this book from start to finish, and leave the reader with one word of advice. Watch Minoo Dinshaw. He will go far -- John Julius Norwich * The Sunday Telegraph *Casts fresh light on [Runciman's] sexuality and his adventures as a part-time spy. -- Tim Cornwell * The Sunday Times *This biography is both funny and erudite and empathetic but critical as it chronicles a fascinating caste of dangerously charming spies, poet-scholars, scheming Oxbridge academics, dashing majors and clever queens. -- Barnaby Rogerson * Country Life *Dinshaw does a superb job in avoiding a chronological cradle-to-grave account of the life. Only towards the end of the book, for example, does he deal with Runciman's homosexuality, and his judgment here is perfectly balanced. The account of Runciman's old age (he died, aged 97, in 2000), playing the laird and host at his Borders tower Elshieshiels, couldn't be bettered. ... [Dinshaw] vividly brings alive this secretive, ludic man, making good his case that Runciman, like all the best historians, should be considered, first and foremost, as a writer -- Jane Ridley * Spectator *This obscure, ever-so-slightly discredited historian is an inspired choice of subject by Minoo Dinshaw. ... Dinshaw, rather than writing a crisp biography, has written a gigantic one, as rich, funny and teemingly peopled as Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time ... Dinshaw writes with wit and elegance, and the most elegiac passages of Outlandish Knight evoke a lost society London and way of life -- Ben Judah * Financial Times *A kaleidoscopic biography, studded with vivid portraits and entertaining footnotes. The writing is as elegant and as attentive to cadence as Runciman's ... Dinshaw has Runciman's talent for characterisation. ... Minoo has triumphed. He conjures up the worlds, works and harlequin career of Runciman with a magical touch of his own. -- James Howard-Johnston * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisRead the definitive essay collection from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Adversary, dubbed 'France's greatest writer of non-fiction' (New York Times)'The most exciting living writer' Karl Ove KnausgaardOver the course of his career, Emmanuel Carrère has reinvented non-fiction writing. In a search for truth in all its guises, he dispenses with the rules of genre. For him, no form is out of reach: theology, historiography, reportage and memoir - among many others - are fused under the pressure of an inimitable combination of passion, curiosity and intellect that has made Carrère one of our most distinctive and important literary voices today.97,196 Words introduces Carrère's shorter work to an English-language audience. Featuring more than thirty extraordinary texts written over an illustrious twenty-five-year period of Carrère's creative life, the book shows a remarkable mind at work. Spanning continents, histories, and personal relationships, 97,196 Words considers the divides between truth, reality and our shared humanity, exploring remarkable events and eccentric lives, including Carrère's own.* A New York Times Notable Book *Trade ReviewA superb collection of essays by Emmanuel Carrère, one of the best storytellers around… When Carrère writes a story, he knows how to stir up powerful and conflicting emotions in his reader, which is one of the reasons he’s so good… It’s the best book I’ve read for ages. -- William Leith * Evening Standard *Books of the Year* *The most exciting living writer. -- Karl Ove KnausgaardEmmanuel Carrère is known for the way he bends and breaks genres… [he] is the most celebrated writer of high-end nonfiction in France… the core of Mr Carrère's talent is precisely that he brings readers into sympathetic contact with others, powerful and powerless, insiders and outsiders… It is a masterful illusion. * Economist *Impossible not to fall in love with…Carrere is regarded as a superstar writer… it is a joy to be reminded of all the wonderful things that [creative non-fiction] can do. -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *Emmanuel Carrère, a man fascinated by crime, eroticism and the oddities of human behaviour, is arguably France’s most original living writer of non-fiction… he creates reportage, that, with its insight and humanity, is closer to literature than journalism. -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisBritain has scarcely begun to come to terms with its recent upheavals, from the crisis over Brexit to the collapse of Labour's 'red wall'. What can explain such momentous shifts?In this essential work, Tom Hazeldine excavates the history of a divided country: North and South, industry versus finance, Whitehall and the left-behind. Only by fully registering these deep-seated tensions, he argues, can we make sense of the present moment. Hazeldine tracks the North-South divide over the longue durée, from the formation of an English state rooted in London and the south-east; the Industrial Revolution and the rise of provincial trade unions and the Labour party; the dashed hopes for regional economic renewal in the post-war years; the sharply contrasting fates of northern manufacturing and the City of London under Thatcher and New Labour; to the continuing repercussions of financial crisis and austerity. The Northern Question is set to transform our understanding of the politics of Westminster - its purpose, according to Hazeldine, to stand English history on its head.Trade ReviewA lively, provocative and richly researched book. Tom Hazeldine shows that far from being marginal to British politics and culture, northern England has played a pivotal role in British history - and must be given serious consideration by the politicians of the future. Well-written and absorbing. -- Selina Todd, author of Tastes of Honey and The PeopleThe definitive account of the historical importance of the North-South Divide. A masterly history of the shifting social forces shaped by this enduring fault-line. -- Geoffrey Ingham, author of The Nature of Money and Capitalism Divided?The disparity between the North of England and the South East is a rich and tangled history. Hazeldine's account is persuasive, and his long view is valuable. With real acuity, he highlights key differences in people's ideas of political possibility. -- John Harris * Guardian *The first serious study of the social and historical fissure to appear in more than 30 years. * Big Issue *An expansive account of the north-south divide -- Lynsey Hanley * Financial Times *Shunning simplifications and panegyrics, Hazeldine's book is particularly strong on the postwar period, during which both Labour and Tory governments wrestled with the northern question and failed to provide an answer -- ProspectDeserve[s] a place on the bookshelves of any historian concerned with England. * New Welsh Review *Brilliant ... [a] gripping, important, infuriating history -- Review31 * http://review31.co.uk/essay/view/90/england's-house-divided *A confident, synoptic book, taking on a thousand years of England's North/South divide -- Owen Hatherley * Tribune *Compelling, rigorous and ambitious * Jacobin *Hazeldine painstakingly recounts how successive twentieth-century governments sacrificed the North on the altar of sterling and the South East. * Times Literary Supplement *A historical travelogue not for the politically faint-hearted. -- Mark Perryman * Philosophy Football *

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Book SynopsisWas he influenced by the environment, he asks himself, and if so, how? Ginzburg uses his own experience to examine the elusive and constantly evolving nature of history and historical research.Trade ReviewGinzburg is known internationally for his studies of what might be called the interface between learned and popular culture. This collection of eight essays explores the methodological foundations of his historical analysis. -- David Herlihy Journal of Interdisciplinary HistoryTable of ContentsPreface to the 2013 EditionPreface to the Italian EditionTranslators' NoteBibliographical NoteWitchcraft and Popular Piety: Notes on a Modenese Trial of 1519From Aby Warburg to E. H. Gombrich: A Problem of MethodThe High and the Low: The Theme of Forbidden Knowledge in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CenturiesTitian, Ovid, and Sixteenth-Century Codes for Erotic IllustrationClues: Roots of an Evidential ParadigmGermanic Mythology and Nazism: Thoughts on an Old Book by Georges DumézilFreud, the Wolf-Man, and the WerewolvesThe Inquisitor as AnthropologistNotesIndex of Names

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Book SynopsisThis book should stimulate work and thought rather than impose a new orthodoxy. Its combination of iconoclasm with questioning gives it an interest that is relatively rare in recent English historiography.

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Book SynopsisDust is a witty and highly original investigation into the development of modern history writing. This book considers how history writing belongs to the currents of thought shaping the modern world, and suggests that, like dust, the 'matter of history' can never go away or be erased.Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsPreface1. In the Archon's house2. 'Something she called a fever'3. The magistrates4. The space of memory: In an archive5. Middlemarch: Without benefit of archive6. What a rag rug means7. On how the end is different from an ending8. The story of Dust

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Book SynopsisAn updated edition of this accessible critical reader, with additional chapters including an introduction that contextualises the rise of each theoretical perspective and draw links between them. -- .Table of Contents1. Introduction2. The empiricists3. Marxist historians4. Psychoanalysis and history 5. The Annales6. Historical sociology7. Quantitative history8. Anthropology and ethnohistorians9. The question of narrative10. Gender and history11. The challenge of poststructuralism/postmodernism12. Postcolonial perspectives13. Public history14. Oral history15. History of emotions16. ConclusionIndex

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Book SynopsisHow does excavation enable the archaeologist to reconstruct the past? Victor Ambrus, who has been the Channel 4 Time Team artist since the programme''s inception in 1994, has selected some of the key excavations from the many series to show how it has been possible to recreate snapshots of the past.

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Book SynopsisBritain has scarcely begun to come to terms with its recent upheavals, from the crisis over Brexit to the collapse of Labour's 'red wall'. What can explain such momentous shifts?In this essential work, Tom Hazeldine excavates the history of a divided country: North and South, industry versus finance, Whitehall and the left-behind. Only by fully registering these deep-seated tensions, he argues, can we make sense of the present moment.Hazeldine tracks the North-South divide over the longue durée, from the formation of an English state rooted in London and the south-east; the Industrial Revolution and the rise of provincial trade unions and the Labour party; the dashed hopes for regional economic renewal in the post-war years; the sharply contrasting fates of northern manufacturing and the City of London under Thatcher and New Labour; to the continuing repercussions of financial crisis and austerity.The Northern Question is set to transform our understanding of the politics of Westminster - its purpose, according to Hazeldine, to stand English history on its head.Trade ReviewA lively, provocative and richly researched book. Tom Hazeldine shows that far from being marginal to British politics and culture, northern England has played a pivotal role in British history - and must be given serious consideration by the politicians of the future. Well-written and absorbing. -- Selina Todd, author of Tastes of Honey and The PeopleThe definitive account of the historical importance of the North-South Divide. A masterly history of the shifting social forces shaped by this enduring fault-line. -- Geoffrey Ingham, author of The Nature of Money and Capitalism Divided?The disparity between the North of England and the South East is a rich and tangled history. Hazeldine's account is persuasive, and his long view is valuable. With real acuity, he highlights key differences in people's ideas of political possibility. -- John Harris * Guardian *The first serious study of the social and historical fissure to appear in more than 30 years. * Big Issue *An expansive account of the north-south divide -- Lynsey Hanley * Financial Times *Traces London's parasitic rise to prominence on the back of industry and the provincial poor, which it briskly cast off once they became unprofitable * New Welsh Review *Hazeldine convincingly asserts a northern reality. His point is that Brexit, and the collapse of Labour's Red Wall, are just the latest consequences of a divide written into England's political and economic geography. -- Rory Scothorne * London Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of Fake History, Otto English, comes a shocking yet hilarious look at ten of the greatest liars from our past, examining these previously unquestioned idols and exposing what they were trying to hide.'A brilliant book.' James O'BrienWas Che Guevara really a revolutionary hero?Should Mother Teresa be honoured as a saint?Is Henry V actually England's greatest king?And why does JFK's legend continue to grow?Having exposed some of the greatest lies ever told in Fake History, journalist Otto English turns his attention to some of history's biggest (and most beloved) figures.Whether it's virtuous leaders in just wars, martyrs sacrificing all for a cause, or innovators changing the world for the better, down the centuries supposedly great men and women have risen to become household names, saints and heroes. But just how deserving are they of their reputations?Exploring everything from Captain Scott's reckless hunt for glory and Andy Warhol's flagrant thievery to Coco Chanel's murky Nazi past, Otto English dives into the hidden lives of some of history's most recognisable names. Scrutinising figures from the worlds of art, politics, business, religion and royalty, he brings to light the murkier truths they would rather have kept buried away, at the same time as celebrating the unsung heroes lost to time.Fake Heroes exposes the truth of the past and helps us understand why that matters today.Trade Review'A fascinating mixture of subjects and lots of offbeat information ... Eye-opening' -- Andrew Lownie'A brilliant book' -- James O'Brien'The most controversial book of the year' * Daily Express *'A fascinating and humorous look at some of the seminal characters of our recent histories ... An uproarious narrative' -- Iain MacGregor, Aspects of History

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Book SynopsisIn this book Jacques Rancière radicalises his critique of modernism and its postmodern appendix. He contrasts their unilinear and exclusive time with the interweaving of temporalities at play in modern processes of emancipation and artistic revolutions, showing how this plurality itself refers to the double dimension of time. Time is more than a line drawn from the past to the future. It is a form of life, marked by the ancient hierarchy between those who have time and those who do not. This hierarchy, continued in the Marxist notion of the vanguard and nakedly exhibited in Clement Greenberg's modernism, still governs a present which clings to the fable of historical necessity and its experts. In opposition to this, Rancière shows how the break with the hierarchical conception of time, formulated by Emerson in his vision of the new poet, implies a completely different idea of the modern. He sees the fulfilment of this in the two arts of movement, cinema and dance, which at the beginning of the twentieth century abolished the opposition between free and mechanical people, at the price of exposing the rift between the revolution of artists and that of strategists.Trade ReviewOne of our most stimulating thinkers * Paris Match *Ranciere's writings offer one of the few conceptualizations of how we are to continue to resist. -- Slavoj ZizekIt's clear that Jacques Rancière is relighting the flame that was extinguished for many-that is why he serves as such a signal reference today. -- Thomas HirschhornHis art lies in the rigor of his argument-its careful, precise unfolding -and at the same time not treating his reader, whether university professor or unemployed actress, as an imbecile. -- Kristin RossFrench philosopher Jacques Ranciere is a refreshing read for anyone concerned with what art has to do with politics and society. * Art Review *

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Book Synopsis'A groundbreaking and important book that will surely reframe our understanding of the Great War' David Lammy 'A genuinely groundbreaking piece of research' BBC History 'Meticulously researched and beautifully written' Military History Monthly In a sweeping narrative, David Olusoga describes how Europe's Great War became the World's War – a multi-racial, multi-national struggle, fought in Africa and Asia as well as in Europe, which pulled in men and resources from across the globe. Throughout, he exposes the complex, shocking paraphernalia of the era's racial obsessions, which dictated which men would serve, how they would serve, and to what degree they would suffer. As vivid and moving as it is revelatory and authoritative, The World's War explores the experiences and sacrifices of four million non-European, non-white people whose stories have remained too long in the shadows.Trade ReviewA groundbreaking and important book that will surely reframe our understanding of the Great War -- David LammyIn a remarkable and eye-opening book Olusoga has restored the conflict's global perspectives... The magnificent, eloquently written The World's War is a genuinely groundbreaking piece of research' * BBC History Magazine *Meticulously researched and beautifully written * Military History Monthly *The wartime experience of African, Chinese and Indian participants, for too long neglected, is detailed here * Good Book Guide *

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Book SynopsisThis volume reconsiders the history of Zionism through the lens of emotion. By highlighting the series of emotional states that are key to any national or social movement, including the Zionist project, Penslar shows how Zionism is distinct for the breadth and depth of feeling of those engaged in it, of outside observers, and of its opponents.Trade Review"[W]ith great care and clarity...Derek Penslar’s Zionism: An Emotional State, zero[es] in on those emotions, like love and fear, which are so seldom acknowledged for what they are but play an outsize role in shaping politics." -- Robert Zaretsky * The Atlantic *“Derek Penslar has written a brave and thought-provoking book that seeks to understand the well-springs of hope and belief in Zionism. Yet he does not shy away from less attractive passions, especially hatred in the name of Zionism and hatred of Zionism itself. Anyone keen to understand the way such deep emotions animate and shape history must read this compelling book.” -- Ruth Harris * author of Dreyfus: Politics, Emotion, and the Scandal of the Century *“Derek Penslar’s masterfully written history of emotions adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of both Zionism and the State of Israel and is crucial reading for anyone interested in grasping the nature of modern nationalism.” -- Michael Brenner * author of In Search of Israel: The History of an Idea *“Derek Penslar introduces a ‘new key’ to the history of Zionism with his examination of the emotions involved, helping us understand the passionate dynamics of both Zionist and anti-Zionist sensibilities as they have emerged and developed over time. This is a must read.” -- Ute Frevert * author of Emotions in History—Lost and Found *"For a topic as contentious and complex as Zionism, Penslar’s expertise, sober voice, and informed critique shine through as he provides a much-needed addition to ongoing debates that touch at the heart of Jewish identity today." -- Shaul Magid * author of Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical *"Perhaps the finest book on Zionism written in recent memory. This slim, brilliant volume probes with rare equanimity every volatile corner of this topic with its focus squarely on why it generates such promiscuous, even universal heat. Derek Penslar is an outstanding historian who knows so well how to marshal knowledge of the past to illuminate the aching complexities of the present." -- Steven J. Zipperstein * author of Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History *“If you think you understand Zionism, read this book and think again. Carefully, elegantly and with tremendous erudition, Derek Penslar takes an ideology many think they understand and illuminates it in a fascinating new way.” -- Peter Beinart * author of The Crisis of Zionism *"Why does Zionism evoke such intense passions? Because as much as it is a political and ideological movement, it is also an emotional movement. Penslar has outdone himself with this intriguing history of the emotions of Zionism's champions and its adversaries." -- Susannah Heschel * author of The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany *Table of ContentsContents Introduction Part I: Terms of Debate Chapter One: Staging Zionism Part II: State of the Question Chapter Two: Zionism as Colonialism Part III: In a New Key Chapter Three: Zionism to 1948: Passion and Solidarity Chapter Four: Zionism since 1948: A Great Romance Chapter Five: Zionism and the International Community: From Gratitude to Betrayal Chapter Six: Hating Zionism Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes For Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisIn Chronos, a leading French historian ranges from Western antiquity to the Anthropocene, pinpointing the crucial turning points in our relationship to time. François Hartog considers the genealogy of Western temporalities, examining the order of times and the divisions of time into epochs.Trade ReviewWith characteristic elegance, wit, and erudition, Hartog, the master thinker of historical time, offers a panoramic view of the past to show how a temporal order (re)fashioned by Christianity endures to this day and shapes our crisis-ridden sense of the present. This is a longue-durée perspective on the Anthropocene that only someone with Hartog's learning and brilliance could have provided. An indispensable guide to the present. -- Dipesh Chakrabarty, author of Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical DifferenceChronos is a magisterial book, breathtaking in scope and precision. I cannot think of another historian who could have written this book in this way. François Hartog uniquely possesses the intellectual expertise and range to lead the reader through a sweeping history of the concept of time in the “West,” beginning with the Greeks in antiquity and ending with our current periodization of the Anthropocene. It is an important work on one of the most pressing topics of our day. -- Ethan Kleinberg, author of Haunting History: For a Deconstructive Approach to the PastThis book, masterfully translated by S. R. Gilbert, will undoubtedly become a classic. A Christian “revolution in time” led from Greek Chronos, to Augustine’s self, to modern change, and to the Anthropocene. Beautifully written, this is a book for everyone who wants to know why our time is what it is. -- Nitzan Lebovic, Apter Chair of Holocaust Studies and Ethical Values, Lehigh UniversityIn this brilliant, original, and profound book, François Hartog takes further his critical analyses of the sources and legacies of modern Western assumptions about time. He brings to light their urgent relevance to us today as we face challenges such as climate change, the Anthropocene, and potential global geopolitical catastrophe. -- Sir Geoffrey Lloyd, University of CambridgeMagisterial yet accessible, Chronos can make the rare claim to encompass all of recorded time in a relatively slim [book]. * New York Sun *Hartog's book offers necessary elucidation of how Westerners’ relationships with time brought us to this current moment. * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *For those seeking insight into past conceptions of time or questioning how we arrived at our current presentist temporality, Chronos serves as a clear and concise starting point. * H-Sci-Med-Tech, H-Net Reviews *Hartog is a superbly gifted writer who wears his learning lightly and without recourse to jargon, and translator S .R. Gilbert has served his author’s conversational style well in rendering it into eloquent English. . . . An enjoyable tour and a welcome synthesis of current thought on the human experience of temporality. * The Philosopher *Table of ContentsTo Readers of the English EditionPreface: The Undeducible PresentIntroduction: From the Greeks to the Christians1. The Christian Regime of Historicity: Chronos Between Kairos and Krisis2. The Christian Order of Time and Its Spread3. Negotiating with Chronos4. Dissonance and Fissures5. In the Thrall of Chronos6. Chronos Destituted, Chronos RestoredConclusion: The Anthropocene and HistoryNotesIndex

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Book Synopsis''Grayling brings satisfying order to daunting subjects'' Steven Pinker_________________________In very recent times humanity has learnt a vast amount about the universe, the past, and itself. But through our remarkable successes in acquiring knowledge we have learned how much we have yet to learn: the science we have, for example, addresses just 5 per cent of the universe; pre-history is still being revealed, with thousands of historical sites yet to be explored; and the new neurosciences of mind and brain are just beginning. What do we know, and how do we know it? What do we now know that we don''t know? And what have we learnt about the obstacles to knowing more? In a time of deepening battles over what knowledge and truth mean, these questions matter more than ever. Bestselling polymath and philosopher A. C. Grayling seeks to answer them in three crucial areas at the frontiers of knowledge: science, history and psychology. A remarkTrade ReviewGrayling brings satisfying order to daunting subjects -- Steven PinkerRemarkable, readable and authoritative. How he has mastered so much, so thoroughly, is nothing short of amazing -- Lawrence M. Krauss, author of A Universe from NothingThis book hums with the excitement of the great human project of discovery -- Adam Zeman, author of AphantasiaProf. Grayling interweaves the recent scientific and archaeological advances into a compelling narrative of how much progress humans have made in the understanding of their place in the natural, social and cognitive worlds. And how ignorant we still remain providing strong motivation to further this understanding by new empirical evidence -- Tejidner Virdee FRSAC Grayling tackles the questions science can't answer... a breathtaking book... Scholarly, lucid and accessible without being patronising or diluting, Grayling offers a masterly exegesis of current knowledge in three disciplines, as well as an analysis of what both opens and obstructs our access to such knowledge - in effect, four books in one -- Jane O'Grady * The Telegraph *An enthusiastic thinker who embraces humour, common sense and lucidity * Independent *

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Book SynopsisIt is unlikely that a clearer, more stimulating account of the Russians' extraordinary period of imperial history will be written.' Philip Marsden, SpectatorGeoffrey Hosking's landmark book provides us with a new prism through which to view Russian history by posing the apparently simple question: what is Russia's national identity?Hosking answers this with brilliant originality: his thesis is that the needs of Russia's empire prevented the creation of a Russian nation. The Tsars, and before them the Grand Dukes of Moscow, were empire builders rather than nation builders and, as consequence, profoundly alienated ordinary Russians.Trade Review‘Hosking’s book is a tour de force of historical argument, vividly written [and] courageously argumentative.’ Michael Ignatieff, Observer ‘Brilliant…an elegantly written, humane and rigorous work of empirical history.’ Michael Burleigh, Independent on Sunday ‘“Russia: People and Empire” is the most interesting and authoritative account of Russian imperial history in English. It is a masterful synthesis, intelligent and lucid, passionately argumentative, but always fair, which should be read by everyone who wants to understand the origins of Russia’s predicament today.’ Orlando Figes, The Times

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Book SynopsisThis unprecedented book, by one of Britain''s leading intellectual historians, describes the intellectual impact that the study and consideration of the past has had in the western world over the past 2500 years, treating the practise of history not as an isolated pursuit but as an aspect of human society and an essential part of the cultural history of Europe and America. It magnificently brings to life the work of historians from the Greeks to the present, explaining their distinctive qualities and allowing the modern reader to appreciate and enjoy them. But is also examines subjects as diverse as the new perspectives brought about by the rise of Rome, the interests of medieval chroniclers, the effects of Romanticism and the emergence towards the end of the nineteenth century of an historical profession. It sets out to be not the history of an academic discipline, but a history of choice: the choice of pasts, and the ways they have been demarcated, investigated, presented and even soTrade Review'if historians have a Valhalla, a hall of heroes, he has earned his place with this book' - Dominic Sandbrook, Evening Standard 'a triumphant success. The result is a highly enjoyable book, based on a vast amount of reading, written with attractive simplicity, brimming with acute observations, and often very witty. Anyone who wants to know what historical writing has contributed to our culture should start here' - Keith Thomas, Guardian 'This book is magnificent: a daunting combination of vast range, profound learning and high literary art. In 500 superbly crafted pages (miraculously succinct for the task in hand), Burrow's chapters treat of almost every imporant historian of the last two-and-a-half thousand years' - John Adamson, Sunday Telegraph

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Book SynopsisWhat is history, and why should we study it? Is there such a thing as historical truth? Is history a science? One of the most accomplished historians at work today, John Lewis Gaddis, answers these and other questions in this short, witty, and humane book. The Landscape of History provides a searching look at the historian''s craft, as well as a strong argument for why a historical consciousness should matter to us today.Written in the tradition of Marc Bloch and E. H. Carr, The Landscape of History is at once an engaging introduction to the historical method for beginners, a powerful reaffirmation of it for practitioners, a startling challenge to social scientists, and an effective skewering of postmodernist claims that we can''t know anything at all about the past. It will be essential reading for anyone who reads, writes, teaches, or cares about history.Trade Review"These engaging and accessible lectures describe why history matters. Non-historians who want to learn more about the field will find the book illuminating, and historians will learn from the tools provided."--The San Francisco Chronicle"A masterful statement on the historical method by a distinguished Cold War historian.... Gaddis' most provocative claim is a powerful irony: Social science, with its independent variables and deductive theories, would appear to have more scientific pretensions than does history. But the historical method, which relies on thought experiments and the interplay of inductive and deductive reasoning, more fully shares the methodical logic of such fields as astronomy, paleontology, and evolutionary biology. Gaddis' characterization of the social sciences will surely spark debate even as it illuminates important intellectual connections between the disciplines. Delightfully readable, the book is a grand celebration of the pursuit of knowledge."--Foreign Affairs"A bold and challenging book, unafraid of inviting controversy. It provides a strong statement for our time of both the limits and the value of the historical enterprise."--Alan Brinkley, New York Times Book Review"Never before have I come across a book that so illuminated the craft of the historian.... Gaddis has a delightful command of language--and a delight in it. He draws on Gertrude Stein, Mark Twain, contemporary movies, Thucydides, Tom Stoppard, Woody Allen and lots more.... He is a distinguished scholar who writes with a clarity and a lack of pedantry that is quite marvelous. Equally impressive, he's not afraid of a rip-roaring fight with his fellow academics."--Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun"In 'The Landscape of History,' Mr. Gaddis, the author of several distinguished books on the cold war, both pays homage to Bloch (and with more conditional admiration, to the British historian E.H. Carr) and addresses the challenge of postmodernism. He does all of this in an urbane and eloquent little volume that, in its way, might even be what Bloch himself would have written had he lived.... Mr. Gaddis's learned and graceful reflections on all of these questions are deeply humane, propelled by the conviction that only by sustaining a historical consciousness can we know where we should want to go. They will also never allow either the reader of history or the writer of it to think about the past in quite the same way as before."--Richard Bernstein, New York Times"This is another of those books that rewards the effort it requires. Besides providing invaluable insights into how the historian goes about his business, it teaches--like all really good books--of life beyond its boundaries."--Colin Walters, Washington Times"A technical but provocative inquiry for sophisticated history readers."--Booklist"Entertaining, masterful disquisition on the aims, limitations, design, and methods of historiography.... Employing a wide range of metaphors (from Cleopatra's nose to Napoleon's underwear), displaying an extensive knowledge of current thinking in mathematics, physics, and evolutionary biology, alluding frequently to figures as disparate as Lee Harvey Oswald, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Lennon, and John Malkovich, Gaddis guides us on a genial trip into the historical method and the imagination that informs it.... Provocative, polymathic, and pleasurable."--Kirkus Reviews"The Landscape of History explores recent, surprising convergences of natural science and human history and does so with clarity, charm and easy erudition. Gaddis's book is a real tour de force: a delight to read, and a light-hearted celebration of the odd, 'fractal' patterns that intellectual and other forms of human and natural history exhibit."--William H. McNeillTable of ContentsPreface ; 1. "The Landscape of History" ; 2. "Time and Space" ; 3. "Structure and Process" ; 4. "The Interdependency of Variables" ; 5. "Chaos and Complexity" ; 6. "Causation, Contingency, and Counterfactuals" ; 7. "Molecules with Minds of Their Own" ; 8. "Seeing Like a Historian" ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a critical history of the movement associated with the journal Annales, from its foundation in 1929 to the present. This movement has been the single most important force in the development of what is sometimes called the new history'. Renowned cultural historian, Peter Burke, distinguishes between four main generations in the development of the Annales School. The first generation included Lucien Febvre and Marc Bloch, who fought against the old historical establishment and founded the journal Annales to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. The second generation was dominated by Fernand Braudel, whose magnificent work on the Mediterranean has become a modern classic. The third generation, deeply associated with the cultural turn' in historical scholarship, includes recently well-known historians such as Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Jacques Le Goff and Georges Duby. This new edition brings us right up to the present, and contemplates the work of a fTrade ReviewNo one has had a greater collective impact on modern historiography than the historians of the Annales school, and no one has appraised their aims and achievements with more sympathetic insight than Peter Burke. His concise, inclusive, and authoritative survey of the transformations they brought about is itself a powerful incentive to think reflectively about the idea of history. Stuart Clark, University of Swansea [and editor of The Annales School: Critical Assessments, 1999.] Eminent historian of modern France, Peter Burke is also a great connoisseur of French historians, and especially of the Annales School. This new and expanded edition of The French Historical Revolution brings out the contribution of a 4th generation of the Annales open to the diversity of the world, its hybridity and cultural encounters through the work of its most original and productive representatives, such as Serge Gruzinski, Lucette Valensi and Nathan Wachtel. André Burguière, L’Ecole des Hautes Etudes on Sciences SocialesTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface to the Second Edition Introduction 1 The Old Historiographical Regime and its Critics 2 The Founders: Lucien Febvre and Marc Bloch i The Early Years ii Strasbourg iii The Foundation of Annales iv The Institutionalization of Annales 3 The Age of Braudel i The Mediterranean ii The Later Braudel iii The Rise of Quantitative History 4 The Third Generation i From the Cellar to the Attic ii The ‘Third Level’ of Serial History iii Reactions: Anthropology, Politics, Narrative 5 New Directions (1989-2014) 6 The Annales in Global Perspective i Reception and Resistance ii Striking a Balance Glossary: The Language of Annales Chronology Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisJeffrey Lewis PhD is a scholar at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and a research affiliate at the Stanford University Center for Security and International Cooperation. He previously worked at the US Department of Defense, and was director of both the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation and the Managing the Atom Project at the Harvard Kennedy School. A columnist for Foreign Policy, he is the publisher of ArmsControlWonk.com, the leading blog on disarmament, arms control, and nonproliferation. He has written for the New York Times, Atlantic, Daily Beast and the Washington Post.Trade ReviewA bold warning of how easily the nightmare could occur * The Times *A book with a ferocious pace and more black humour than one could imagine * Evening Standard *Chillingly plausible * The Economist *A Dr Strangelove for our time * The Observer *A book with ferocious pace and more black humour than one could imagine * Evening Standard *The plot is so absurd and implausible—a nuclear war prompted by a presidential tweet—that it feels devastatingly true. The 2020 COMMISSION REPORT is a brilliantly conceived page-turner. Let’s hope it isn’t prophetic * Eric Schlosser, author of COMMAND AND CONTROL *A Dr Strangelove for our time * The Observer *Chillingly plausible * Economist *Couldn’t put this book down.... If fear of nuclear war is going to keep you up at night, at least it can be a page-turner * New Scientist *

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Book SynopsisSteven Harper pays tribute to a respected teacher with this biography of a distinguished William Smith Mason Professor of History at Northwestern University, Richard W. Leopold. When Leopold invited him to review his biographical materials to prepare a New York Times obituary, Harper began to catch glimpses of a deeper history in Leopold's life.Trade ReviewThere are few great teachers in any generation. One such during the second half of the twentieth century was Richard W. Leopold, a professor of the history of American foreign policy Harvard and Northwestern. Steven J. Harper has caught the spirit and tone of Dick Leopold's life and career in this graceful, admiring biography which aptly describes the stunning qualities of instruction, academic citizenship, and professional scholarship that Leopold exemplified in his distinguished career."" - John Morton Blum, Sterling Professor of History (emeritus) at Yale University and author of The Republican Roosevelt, V was for Victory and other books""We Americans today live too much in historical bubbles, protected from the cleansing knowledge of time and man's history. And so, how greatly we need this well-written and evocative book about one of our greatest twentieth century teachers! Here, in the amazing and inspiring life of Richard Leopold, a man impassioned by excellence, we can see and feel one of the great and searching historic minds of our time-and grapple with our past anew. Personally, I am immensely comforted and inspired by this rare narrative of a man who never bent the truth."" - Georgie Anne Geyer, syndicated columnist, Universal Press Syndicate, and author of Guerrilla Prince, and other books""What a privilege to have had Leopold for a teacher and a friend! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learning of his entire life. I only wish I'd known more of it when I visited him over the years."" - Phyllis E. Oakley, former Assistant Secretary of State and adjunct professor, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

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Book SynopsisThe path taken by German philosophy in the twentieth century is one of the most exciting and controversial in the history of human thought, by turns radical and conservative and secular and religious. In this outstanding introduction, German Philosophy in the Twentieth Century: Dilthey to Honneththe third and final volume in his trilogyJulian Young examines the work of eight German philosophers and theologians of the period. He discusses their engagement with the deepest existential questions, their critique of the rationalization and mechanization of modernity, and their commitment to varying forms of liberalism, socialism, and democracy.Young introduces and assesses the thought of the following figures: Wilhelm Dilthey: the need for worldviews', and the distinction between explanation' and understanding' as a bulwark against the reduction of human beings to scientific quanta Karl Jaspers: existentialism, the challenge of nihilism,Trade Review"Preceded by volumes covering Weber to Habermas and Lukács to Strauss,(published in 2018 and 2020) this third and final volume of Young’s German Philosophy in the Twentieth Century examines eight philosophers and theologians who once were, but no longer are, central to the pressing philosophical debates of the 20th century. ... In company with the previous two volumes in the set, this insightful, well-written volume is an exciting guide through 20th-century German philosophy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers." - J. A. Fischel, CHOICE "Preceded by volumes covering Weber to Habermas and Lukács to Strauss,(published in 2018 and 2020) this third and final volume of Young’s German Philosophy in the Twentieth Century examines eight philosophers and theologians who once were, but no longer are, central to the pressing philosophical debates of the 20th century. ... In company with the previous two volumes in the set, this insightful, well-written volume is an exciting guide through 20th-century German philosophy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers." - J. A. Fischel, CHOICE Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction 1. Wilhelm Dilthey: Explanation and understanding 2. Karl Jaspers: The first existentialist 3. Edith Stein: Empathy, community, and Catholicism 4. Paul Tillich: Religious existentialism 5. Martin Buber: I and thou 6. Hans Jonas: Responsibility for the planet 7. Erich Fromm: Humanistic psychology 8. Axel Honneth: The struggle for recognition Afterword. Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 2000, Trade, Travel, and Exploration: An Encyclopedia covers the people, places, technologies, and intellectual concepts that contributed to trade, travel and exploration during the Middle Ages, from the years C.E. 525 to 1492.This comprehensive reference work contains entries on a large number of subjects, including familiar topics such as the voyages of Columbus and Marco Polo, and also information that is more difficult to find, for example, the traditions of travel among Muslim women and the influence of Viking travel on navigation and geographical knowledge. Bringing together more than 175 scholars from a variety of disciplines, it minimizes Eurocentric bias and offers extensive coverage of such topics as travel within Inner Asia, Mongol society, and the spread of Buddhism. Including an extensive map program and more than 125 illustrations, as well as bibliographies, a comprehensive index and see also references, MedTable of ContentsIntroduction; Topics; Sequence of Events; Kings, Popes and Rulers; Contributors; Maps; The Encyclopedia; General Bibliography; Index

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Book SynopsisConsuming History examines how history works in contemporary popular culture. Analysing a wide range of cultural entities from computer games to daytime television, it investigates the ways in which society consumes history and how a reading of this consumption can help us understand popular culture and issues of representation.In this second edition, Jerome de Groot probes how museums have responded to the heritage debate and how new technologies from online game-playing to internet genealogy have brought about a shift in access to history, discussing the often conflicted relationship between public' and academic history and raising important questions about the theory and practice of history as a discipline. Fully revised throughout with up-to-date examples from sources such as Wolf Hall, Game of Thrones and 12 Years a Slave, this edition also includes new sections on the historical novel, gaming, social media and genealogy. It conTrade Review"De Groot provides all students and practitioners of history with a fascinating overview of the diverse ways in which history is used by societies, and a nuanced understanding of both the rewards and challenges involved with representing the past to the public… The author’s intellectual engagement with these topics is untouched by other publications."Michael F. Dove, University of Western Ontario, Canada"This is the only book that seriously addresses the relationship between history and popular culture in Britain today, and does so in an engaging, thoughtful and accessible way… the range of coverage in Consuming History is excellent."Catherine Fletcher, University of Sheffield, UK"This empirically rich, well-documented book surveys an impressively wide range of topics that the author divides into six often overlapping categories. De Groot (Univ. of Manchester, UK) concentrates heavily on the British experience and, in this second edition of a book first published in 2009, offers new topics, updated examples, and revised analyses. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above."D. L. LeMahieu, Lake Forest College, USA, CHOICE Reviews"De Groot provides all students and practitioners of history with a fascinating overview of the diverse ways in which history is used by societies, and a nuanced understanding of both the rewards and challenges involved with representing the past to the public… The author’s intellectual engagement with these topics is untouched by other publications."Michael F. Dove, University of Western Ontario, Canada"This is the only book that seriously addresses the relationship between history and popular culture in Britain today, and does so in an engaging, thoughtful and accessible way… the range of coverage in Consuming History is excellent."Catherine Fletcher, University of Sheffield, UK"This empirically rich, well-documented book surveys an impressively wide range of topics that the author divides into six often overlapping categories. De Groot (Univ. of Manchester, UK) concentrates heavily on the British experience and, in this second edition of a book first published in 2009, offers new topics, updated examples, and revised analyses. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above."D. L. LeMahieu, Lake Forest College, USA, CHOICE ReviewsTable of ContentsList of figures. Acknowledgements. Preface to the Second Edition. Introduction. Part 1: The Popular Historian 1. The public historian, the historian in public. 2. Popular history in print. 3. The historian in popular culture. Part 2: Digital History 4. Genealogy and family history. 5. History online. Part 3: Performing and playing history. 6. Historical re-enactment. 7. Performing pastness, recycling culture and cultural re-enactment. 8. History games. Part 4: History on Television. 9. Contemporary historical documentary. 10. Reality, professional reality, celebrity and object history. 11. History on television around the world. Part 5: The ‘historical’ as cultural genre. 12. Historical television: Adaptation, original drama, comedy and time-travel. 13. Historical Film 14. Imagined histories: Novels, plays and comics. Part 6: Material Histories. 15. The everyday historical: local history, antiques, metal detecting. 16. Museums, tourism, gift shops and the historical experience. Conclusions. Index.

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Book SynopsisWe justify our actions in the present through our understanding of the past. But we live in a time when politicians lie brazenly about historical facts and meddle with the content of history books, while media differ wildly in their reporting of the same event. Frequently, new discoveries force us to re-evaluate everything we thought we knew about the past. So how can any certainty about history be established, and why does it matter? Lynn Hunt shows why the search for truth about the past, as a continual process of discovery, is vital for our societies. History has an essential role to play in ensuring honest presentation of evidence. In this way, it can foster humility about our present-day concerns, a critical attitude toward chauvinism, and an openness to other peoples and cultures. History, Hunt argues, is our best defense against tyranny. Introducing Polity's Why It Matters series; in these short and lively books, world-leading thinkers make the case for the importance of their subjects and aim to inspire a new generation of students.Trade Review"A smart, pithy, and frankly essential statement of the origins, aims, and methods of historical study. E.H. Carr's What is History—for the twenty-first century."—Jill Lepore, Harvard University and author of These Truths: A History of the United States "What is history now, why does it matter now, who are the people writing it, and who are they writing for? In this bracing and timely book, Lynn Hunt not only shows why these questions matter, but also answers them brilliantly and provocatively."—Sir David Cannadine, President of the British Academy "Confronted by the thickening miasma of lies seeping from the White House and Fox News, what's a historian to do? In fact, given the present circumstances, does it matter that we do anything at all? According to Lynn Hunt, it does. As the Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA, Hunt has, over a long and brilliant career, earned the right to make that claim."—Los Angeles Review of Books "A timely reconsideration of the value of History... A brief and lively call to arms"—Amy Murrell Taylor, Times Literary SupplementTable of Contents1. Now More Than Ever 2. Truth in History 3. History's Politics 4. History's Future Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisThis book reinterprets the history of nineteenth and twentieth-century revolutions by composing a constellation of "dialectical images": Marx's "locomotives of history," Alexandra Kollontai's sexually liberated bodies, Lenin's mummified body, Auguste Blanqui's barricades and red flags, the Paris Commune's demolition of the Vendome Column, among several others. It connects theories with the existential trajectories of the thinkers who elaborated them, by sketching the diverse profiles of revolutionary intellectuals-from Marx and Bakunin to Luxemburg and the Bolsheviks, from Mao and Ho Chi Minh to José Carlos Mariátegui, C.L.R. James, and other rebellious spirits from the South-as outcasts and pariahs. And finally, it analyzes the entanglement between revolution and communism that so deeply shaped the history of the twentieth century. This book thus merges ideas and representations by devoting an equal importance to theoretical and iconographic sources, offering for our troubled present a new intellectual history of the revolutionary past.Trade ReviewOffering one of the most unsentimental yet non-reactionary meditations on revolution ever written, Traverso comes not to bury or praise the earthly drive to "take heaven by storm" but to understand it anew. Enriched by a lifelong study of historiography and politics, immense historical knowledge, theoretical polyamory, and a compelling artistic eye, this book also features splendid humility in exploring its slippery, complex and important subject. For those who long to craft a different order of things, Traverso's account is essential. For those who want to ponder what spirits revolutions or makes shipwrecks of them, this rare work roams the globe and the library, reflecting on Phnom Penh and Havana, not only Paris and Moscow, and thinking with Weber, Arendt, Fanon and Constant, not only Trotsky, Lenin and Mao. -- Wendy Brown, author of In the Ruins of NeoliberalismThis brilliant essay on the images of revolutions is a unique experiment, which has no equivalent in the vast historiographic literature on the subject. Inspired by Marx, Trotsky ,and Walter Benjamin, it is built as a montage of dialectical images, which function as lamps that illuminate the past. Enzo Traverso, probably the most gifted historian of his generation, does not hide his hostility to what he calls the "octopus of universal commodity reification"; without idealizing the past revolutions , he wants to preserve, in this fascinating and heterodox piece of research, the memory of historical experience. Quoting Benjamin: we cannot ignore the claim that the past has on us. * Michael Löwy *A perfect partnering of author and subject! Enzo Traverso is the Marxist scholar most gifted to present us with a masterfully articulated appraisal of the perplexing presence of concepts and images of revolutions in the political imagination. His astonishing scholarly expertise is on display with stunning elegance to reveal a rich tapestry of material from the 19th and 20th centuries, along with a multitude of riveting actors and thinkers. Revolution is a monumental advance in its sophisticated and supple interpretations; it is also a virtuoso performance in the art of refreshingly precise, rigorously compact exposition, complemented by a novelist's flair for narrative power and dramatic verve. -- Alan Wald, H. Chandler Davis Collegiate Professor Emeritus, University of MichiganBrilliant and beautiful. Now this book exists, it's hard to know how we did without it. -- China MiévilleVividly written, full of sparkling details and sharp theoretical insights... -- Hannah Proctor * Radical Philosophy *Something for every revolutionary. * Socialist Worker *

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Book SynopsisWhen the first Africans arrived in Virginia in 1619, there were no 'white' people there; nor, according to colonial records, would there be for another sixty years. Historical debate about the origin of racial slavery has focused on the status of the Negro in seventeenth-century Virginia and Maryland. However, as Theodore W. Allen argues in this magisterial work, what needs to be studied is the transformation of English, Scottish, Irish and other European colonists from their various statuses as servants, tenants, planters or merchants into a single new all-inclusive status: that of whites. This is the key to the paradox of American history, of a democracy resting on race assumptions.Volume One of this two-volume work attempts to escape the 'white blind spot' which has distorted consecutive studies of the issue. It does so by looking in the mirror of Irish history for a definition of racial oppression and for an explanation of that phenomenon in terms of social control, free from the absurdities of classification by skin color. Compelling analogies are presented between the history of Anglo-Irish and British rule in Ireland and American White Supremacist oppression of Indians and African-Americans. But the relativity of race is shown in the sea change it entailed, whereby emigrating Irish haters of racial oppression were transformed into White Americans who defended it. The reasons for the differing outcomes of Catholic Emancipation and Negro Emancipation are considered and occasion is made to demonstrate Allen's distinction between racial and national oppression.Trade ReviewA meticulous study. -- AkalaSeminal -- Emma Dabiri

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Book SynopsisFully updated and carefully revised, this new 2nd edition of History by Numbers stands alone as the only textbook on quantitative methods suitable for students of history. Even the numerically challenged will find inspiration. Taking a problem-solving approach and using authentic historical data, it describes each method in turn, including its origin, purpose, usefulness and associated pitfalls. The problems are developed gradually and with narrative skill, allowing readers to experience the moment of discovery for each of the interpretative outcomes. Quantitative methods are essential for the modern historian, and this lively and accessible text will prove an invaluable guide for anyone entering the discipline.Trade ReviewThe chapters are structured clearly and accessibly; they also include useful exercises which are based on real research work ... A useful book, well-structured and with great pedagogical value. * Lectures (Bloomsbury translation) *History by Numbers is a perfect introduction to those unfamiliar with, or uncertain about, quantitative approaches to the study of the past. Written in an accessible and engaging style, even those who lack confidence with numbers, graphs and statistics will find themselves enlightened as the authors carefully guide them through a variety of quantitative historical methodologies, describe how they have been used, and what their advantages and shortcomings might be for historical researchers. * Hannah Barker, University of Manchester, UK *Scared of numbers no more! In a world in which we are constantly asked to make sense of data in the form of graphs and tables, how can we address history without much sense of magnitude, scale and trends over time? In History by Numbers Hudson and Ishizu guide the reader step by step into the world of quantities, and percentages, as well as the mysteries of sampling and causation. Without numerical literacy, it is impossible to tackle key issues such as migration, consumption, urbanisation and indeed cultural and political change. * Giorgio Riello, University of Warwick, UK *This is the text book for the next generation of quantitative historians. The brilliantly crafted new edition is written for those who are knowledgeable in history but still skip over the graphs and tables. Chapters convey the evolving need for quantitative study, then lead readers smoothly through all the key quantitative principles. Early chapters show how to read and assess quantitative history; concluding chapters provide effective guidelines on conducting quantitative research. The images and tables, updated and beautifully documented, illustrate concretely the principles. Hudson and Ishizu have overcome the mechanical approaches of their competitors: at every step, a lively historiographical discussion accompanies their clear statement of quantitative principles, emphasizing the balance of technique and critical historical review of the past. Students will be elevated as well as informed; senior scholars will read this book with profit as a review of principles and as a guide to teaching. * Patrick Manning, University of Pittsburg, USA and President, American Historical Association *Ever wondered about that Gini they talk about? If you have scratched your head over debates about income inequality, puzzled over long-run trends, or perhaps pondered on what son-preference in India did to men’s chances of marrying, then History by Numbers is for you. This book gently teaches how to think with statistics, using wide-ranging examples from recent historical literature. Statistical concepts are crystal clear. The authors also examine why historians want to quantify, and how research is changing in the digital age. Big Data means everyone needs to understand numbers. Hudson and Ishizu offer an at once practical and engaging introductory text. * Deborah Oxley, University of Oxford, UK *This is the best English handbook on quantitative methods for history students. * Maarten Van Dijck, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands *This is a great introduction to quantitative history. It is clear and accessible and makes the topic appealing to students. * Michael Goodrum, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK *Table of ContentsForeword 1. The Prospects and Pitfalls of History by Numbers 2. The Origins and Nature of Quantitative Thinking 3. Arranging, Rearranging and Displaying Data 4. Summarising Data: Averages and Distributions 5. Time Series and Indices 6. Relationships Between Variables 7. Sampling and Significance Testing 8. Modelling History 9. Computing, the Internet and History Glossary Index

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