Synopses & Reviews
Historical knowledge, this noted Dutch historian declares, should be a result of free investigation and criticism.and#160; Since it deals with facts, not imagination, it cannot be cast into a predetermined mold to fit a unified pattern of arbitrary principles.and#160; and#147;The most we can hope for,and#8221; he states, and#147;is a partial rendering, an approximation, of the real truth about the past.and#8221;and#160; In this succinct analysis of the philosophy and method of history, Professor Geyl examines the prevailing concepts of history and the new and#147;awareness of distanceand#8221; from the past that was lacking in earlier historians.and#160; History, he points out, provides an elucidation of the present and its problems by showing them in perspective.and#160; This important study of the historical point of view is based on the authorand#8217;s Terry Lectures at Yale.and#160;