
Clio Confused
Troubling Aspects of Historical Study from the Perspective of U.S. History
David Russo(Author)
Praeger Publishers Inc
Published on 10. July 1995
Book
Hardback
176 pages
978-0-313-29682-6 (ISBN)
Description
Nations and other political entities are inadequate bases for studying the human past, because the other aspects of human life are not organized along the same lines as these political entities. All communities, including local ones, are amoeba-like, changing size and shape as we observe and probe them. Historians can improve the way they generalize about the past by tailoring their conclusions to the actual evidence they use. By using an array of historical questions of interest to scholars in all of the humanistically oriented disciplines, historians can offer more profound interpretations of their subjects, rather than confining themselves to an explanation of how and why human life evolves or persists through time and space. By doing so, historians can also significantly extend their influence among the general population.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
429 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-313-29682-6 (9780313296826)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
DAVID J. RUSSO is a Professor of U.S. History at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of Families and Communities: A New View of American History (1974) and Keepers of Our Past: Local Historical Writing in the United States (Greenwood Press, 1988).
Content
Preface Introduction Common Confusions From An Historical Perspective Identities Inconsistencies Traditions Historians and Nations The True Nature of Nations and Nationalism The Limitation of National Histories as Fields of Study Historians and Local Communities "Pre-Historical" Definitions of Local Communities An Historical Definition of Local Communities Current Definitions of "Community" Historians and Generalizations Problems in Historical Synthesizing False Generalizations in Historical Writing Historians and Communication History as Writing Notes Bibliography Index