Research Catalog

History : a very short introduction

Title

History : a very short introduction / John H. Arnold.

Author

Arnold, John, 1969-

Publication

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000.

Supplementary Content

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building M2 to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JFC 00-1559	Schwarzman Building M2 - General Research Room 315

Details

Description

137 pages : illustrations, 1 map; 18 cm

Summary

"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.

Series Statement

Very short introductions ; 16

Uniform Title

Very short introductions ; 16.

Subjects

History > Methodology
History > Philosophy

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 127-130) and index.

Contents

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.

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