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Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1750 to 1900
Twenty Years at Hull House, by the acclaimed memoir of social
reformer Jane Addams, is presented here complete with all
sixty-three of the original illustrations and the biographical
notes. A landmark autobiography in terms of opening the eyes of
Americans to the plight of the industrial revolution, Twenty Years
at Hull House has been applauded for its unflinching descriptions
of the poverty and degradation of the era. Jane Addams also details
the grave ill-health she suffered during and after her childhood,
giving the reader insight into the adversity which she would
re-purpose into a drive to alleviate the suffering of others. The
process by which Addams founded Hull House in Chicago is detailed;
the sheer scale and severity of the poverty in the city she and
others witnessed, the search for the perfect location, and the
numerous difficulties she and her fellow activists encountered
while establishing and maintaining the house are detailed.
In today's world, we can point to many international disputes and
interstate conflicts fueled by past events. Historical resentments
or memories of past suffering or fame are often used to justify
political, economic and even territorial demands. Inter-state
disputes and historical conflicts should be understood as evidence
of political and social tensions related to active, serious
differences in the assessment of the common past. The book explains
the role of such conflicts in international relations and suggests
ways of classifying them. It presents examples of the
internationally relevant instrumentalisation of history from
different regions of the world and outlines ways of overcoming
them.
At the end of the 19th century, German historical scholarship had
grown to great prominence. Academics around the world imitated
their German colleagues. Intellectuals described historical
scholarship as a foundation of the modern worldview. To many, the
modern age was an 'age of history'. This book investigates how
German historical scholarship acquired this status. Modern
Historiography in the Making begins with the early Enlightenment,
when scholars embraced the study of the past as a modernizing
project, undermining dogmatic systems of belief and promoting
progressive ideals, such a tolerance, open mindedness and
reform-readiness. Kasper Risbjerg Eskildsen looks at how this
modernizing project remained an important motivation and
justification for historical scholarship until the 20th century.
Eskildsen successfully argues that German historical scholarship
was not, as we have been told since the early 20th century, a
product of historicism, but rather of Enlightenment ideals. The
book offers this radical revision of the history of scholarship by
focusing on practices of research and education. It examines how
scholars worked and why they cared. It shows how their efforts
forever changed our relationship not only to the past, but also to
the world we live in.
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