Synopses & Reviews
The study of history has changed dramatically in recent decades. The swiftness and scale of the shift is indisputable, but its precise nature as well as its implications remain hotly contested. This study by one of the liveliest and most acute practitioners in the field has a refreshing transparency, a determination to demystify what historians do, and in particular, why and how they have recently brought about such a sweeping change to their discipline. This thoroughly updated and more accessible edition incorporates recent world events such as 9/11 and the war in Iraq, and includes a new chapter on the relationships between religious, ethnic, and political identities, the history of international diplomacy, and how the world map gets reconfigured. Ludmilla Jordanova teaches cultural history at the University of East Anglia.
The study of history has changed dramatically in recent decades. The swiftness and scale of the shift is indisputable, but its precise nature as well as its implications remain hotly contested. This study by one of the liveliest and most acute practitioners in the field has a refreshing transparency, a determination to demystify what historians do, and in particular, why and how they have recently brought about such a sweeping change to their discipline. This thoroughly updated and more accessible edition incorporates recent world events such as 9/11 and the war in Iraq, and includes a new chapter on the relationships between religious, ethnic, and political identities, the history of international diplomacy, and how the world map gets reconfigured. 'This brilliant essay abounds with penetrating yet down-to-earth insights about the practice of academic history. One of the last half-century's most insightful, level-headed, and humane reflections on the practice of history and its cultural significance...(to be) welcomed by professional historians...also accessible to general readers and undergraduates.”History Journal
“Jordanova is brilliant in exposition...makes a fine case for the inescapability of the past and the absolute essentiality of studying it.” English Historical Review
'This brilliant essay abounds with penetrating yet down-to-earth insights about the practice of academic history. One of the last half-century's most insightful, level-headed, and humane reflections on the practice of history and its cultural significance...(to be) welcomed by professional historians...also accessible to general readers and undergraduates.”History Journal
“Achieves what I had thought increasingly impossible in this congested field: it says something fresh, stimulating, and thought provoking. It is, to my mind, a very significant contribution to current debates about the nature of history in offering an account which is simultaneously rooted in practice and engaged with theoretical debates.”Patrick Finney, University of Wales
“Jordanova succeeds admirably in her aim to place the practice of history in a wider disciplinary context. Not only is she alive to the constructed nature of subject boundaries and their porosity, but also to the relatively recent date of their institutionalization.”Reviews in History
"A major, deeply reflective work upon the nature of studying and writing history....No other author has treated the subject in the same way." Ronald Hutton, University of Bristol
Review
"A major, deeply reflective work upon the nature of studying and writing history....No other author has treated the subject in the same way."--Ronald Hutton, University of Bristol
"Achieves what I had thought increasingly impossible in this congested field: it says something fresh, stimulating, and thought provoking. It is, to my mind, a very significant contribution to current debates about the nature of history in offering an account which is simultaneously rooted in common sense and the realities of day-to-day historical practice and engaged with theoretical debates"-- Patrick Finney, University of Wales, Lampeter
Review
“Jordanova is brilliant in exposition...makes a fine case for the inescapability of the past and the absolute essentiality of studying it.” English Historical Review
'This brilliant essay abounds with penetrating yet down-to-earth insights about the practice of academic history. One of the last half-century's most insightful, level-headed, and humane reflections on the practice of history and its cultural significance...(to be) welcomed by professional historians...also accessible to general readers and undergraduates.”History Journal
“Achieves what I had thought increasingly impossible in this congested field: it says something fresh, stimulating, and thought provoking. It is, to my mind, a very significant contribution to current debates about the nature of history in offering an account which is simultaneously rooted in practice and engaged with theoretical debates.”Patrick Finney, University of Wales
“Jordanova succeeds admirably in her aim to place the practice of history in a wider disciplinary context. Not only is she alive to the constructed nature of subject boundaries and their porosity, but also to the relatively recent date of their institutionalization.”Reviews in History
"A major, deeply reflective work upon the nature of studying and writing history....No other author has treated the subject in the same way." Ronald Hutton, University of Bristol
Synopsis
How do the ways historians divide up their subject affect their work, and how have these divisions changed over the years? Why have certain fields, such as women's history and Black history, generated such intense debate about their value and validity? Is history a subject that primarily appropriates its theory from other disciplines? And what is the nature of the links between history and related disciplines, such as anthropology and literary theory? In this lively and readable study, Ludmilla Jordanova examines the many changes in the study of history in recent decades. The nature and implications of the changes remain hotly contested, and Jordanova proves a reliable guide to the emerging discipline. She looks at what historians do, how their work is used in the wider world, and how their methods are continuing to evolve. Ideal for undergraduates and general readers, the book provides an essential theoretical framework for anyone pursuing the study of history.
Synopsis
The study of history has changed dramatically in recent decades. The swiftness and scale of the shift is indisputable, but its precise nature as well as its implications remain hotly contested. This study demystifies what historians do, and in particular, why and how they have recently brought about such a sweeping change to their discipline.
About the Author
Ludmilla Jordanova teaches cultural history at the University of East Anglia.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Mapping the Discipline of History
3. History and Other Disciplines
4. The Status of Historical Knowledge
5. Periodisation
6. Public History
7. Historians' Skills
Postscript