History: A Very Short Introduction

Description

"Do historians reconstruct the truth or simply tell stories? This book suggests that they do both, and that the balance between 'truth' and 'story' is tremendously important to history. Taking us from the fabulous tales of ancient Greek historians to the varied approaches of modern professionals, History: A Very Short Introduction illuminates our relationship to the past by making us aware of how 'history' has changed as a subject. Concepts such as periodization and causation are discussed, but not in a dry or abstract fashion. Instead, the book works through particular historical examples - including a medieval murderer, a seventeenth-century colonist, and an ex-slave woman - to illustrate and explain the ways in which we study and understand history, giving the reader a sense of the excitement of discovering not only the past, but also ourselves."--Jacket.  Read more... Abstract: An essay about how we study and understand history, this book begins by inviting us to think about various questions provoked by our investigation of history. It explores the ways these questions have been answered in the past. It also introduces the concepts of causation, interpretation, and periodization, through examples of how historians work.  Read more... Content: 1. Questions about murder and history -- 2. From the tails of dolphins to the tower of politics -- 3. 'How it really was': truth, archives, and the love of old things -- 4. Voices and silences -- 5. Journeys of a thousand miles -- 6. The killing of cats or, is the past a foreign country? -- 7. The telling of truth.