Employing the approaches of Gramsci and Foucault, Gran proposes a re-conceptualisation of world history. He challenges the convention of relying on totalitarian or democratic functions of a particular state to explain relationships of authority and resistance in a number of national contexts.

'Building upon four decades of his own scholarly work in the field of history, Frykenberg presents a notable achievement for clarifying the rich overlap between facts and theory, evidence and belief, history and religion, East and West. He deserves to be commended.'--Lamin Sanneh, Yale Divinity School

This fascinating book examines how the past pervades French public life, how the French both commemorate their past triumphs, heroes, and martyrs and attempt to erase the more violent events in their history. The book surveys the ways that various political communities in France during the past two centuries have manufactured different versions of the past in order to define their identities and legitimate their goals. Beginning with a discussion of the bicentenary of the French Revolution in 1989, Robert Gildea moves backward in time to show how rival factions have used various elements of French political culture-from the grandeur of the ancien regime to Catholicism, Jacobinism, Anarchism, and Bonapartism-to further their ends. Gildea shows how proponents of revolution and counterrevolution, church and state, centralism and regionalism, and national identity and nationalism campaigned to achieve the widest possible acceptance of their own view of the past. He describes the continuing battle between Left and Right for association with national heroes such as Joan of Arc and Napoleon. He exposes the reworking of collective views of the past by political communities, in order to increase or recover political legitimacy. Written in clear and trenchant prose, the book offers a new perspective on French history and political culture.

How we make history - and what we then make of it - is engagingly dramatized in T. H. Breen's portrait of a 350-year-old American community faced with the costs of its progress. In the particulars of one town's struggle to check development and save its natural environment, Breen shows how our sense of history reflects our ever-changing self-perceptions and hopes for the future. Breen first went to East Hampton, the celebrated Long Island resort town, to write about the Mulford Farmstead, a picturesque saltbox dating from the 1680s. Through his research, he came across a fascinating cast of local characters, past and present, who contributed to, invented, and reinvented the town's history. Breen's work also drew him into contemporary local affairs: factionalism among residents, zoning disputes, and debates over resource management. Driving these heated issues, Breen found, were some dearly held notions about a harmonious, agrarian past that conflicted with what he had come to know about the divisiveness and opportunism of East Hampton's early days. Imagining the Past is about the interplay between some of the East Hampton histories Breen encountered: the official histories of many generations, the myths and oral traditions, and the curious stories that Breen, as an outsider, discerned in the town's rich holdings of artifacts and documents. With a warm yet wry regard for human nature, Breen obliges us to confront our pasts in all their complexities and ironies, no matter how unsettling or inconvenient the experience.

The collapse of historicism was not merely the demise of an academic tradition but signified a shift in the understanding of hermeneutics and metaphysics. Whereas earlier books have explored the rise and dominance of historicism within academic history, this is the first to trace its collapse and to show how it was shaped by larger philosophical and scientific concerns. Charles R. Bambach's lucid account of the demise of historicism within the context of German metaphysics provides a rich new perspective on the development of the young Heidegger's concept of "historicity" and on the origins of postmodern thought. Bambach reconstructs the methodological debates arising from a pervasive sense of crisis among German philosophers in the late nineteenth century. He details the divergent attempts by the Neo-Kantians, Nietzsche, and Dilthey to overcome the limitations of historical relativism. Heidegger's view of "historicity," Bambach shows, radically transforms the problematic of historicism into a discourse concerning the crisis of philosophical modernity.

In the first two volumes of this work, Paul Ricoeur examined the relations between time and narrative in historical writing, fiction, and theories of literature. This final volume, a comprehensive reexamination and synthesis of the ideas developed in volumes 1 and 2, stands as Ricoeur's most complete and satisfying presentation of his own philosophy.
Ricoeur's aim here is to explicate as fully as possible the hypothesis that has governed his inquiry, namely, that the effort of thinking at work in every narrative configuration is completed in a refiguration of temporal experience. To this end, he sets himself the central task of determing how far a poetics of narrative can be said to resolve the "aporias"--the doubtful or problematic elements--of time. Chief among these aporias are the conflicts between the phenomenological sense of time (that experienced or lived by the individual) and the cosmological sense (that described by history and physics) on the one hand and the oneness or unitary nature of time on the other. In conclusion, Ricoeur reflects upon the inscrutability of time itself and attempts to discern the limits of his own examination of narrative discourse.
"As in his previous works, Ricoeur labors as an imcomparable mediator of often estranged philosophical approaches, always in a manner that compromises neither rigor nor creativity."--Mark Kline Taylor, "Christian Century "
"In the midst of two opposing contemporary options--either to flee into ever more precious readings . . . or to retreat into ever more safe readings . . . --Ricoeur's work offers an alternative option that is critical, wide-ranging, and conducive to new applications."--Mary Gerhart, "Journal of Religion"

Western philosophies of history commonly regard nature as a mere arena in which human beings suffer, labour and create. In this lucid and clearly written contribution to the subject, Blackburn argues that such a narrow perspective must be transcended. Nature is not simply a backdrop for human actors, but is itself an active force which created and perpetually consumes the human species. It is the very reason why human beings perpetually recreate and destroy one another.
Drawing on a wide range of disciplines--from the natural science of Darwin and Prigogine to the social theories of the fourteenth-century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun and the cosmic speculations of the Vedas--Blackburn explores the dialectic of creation, preservation and destruction underlying human history. He recounts how this conflict is manifested through religion and war, pollution and plagues. European feudalism is analysed as a means of preventing Europe's destruction by Moors, Magyars and Vikings; the Chinese empire of contending with ecological catastrophe and barbarian invasion.
To conquer or be conquered; to develop or be destroyed by nature: these are predicaments set by the Vampire of Reason. Hegel's idea of a Cunning of Reason guiding history is belied, yet partly vindicated by nature; a hidden hand unfolds, not only in the capitalist marketplace but in a Darwinian struggle for social existence accelerating human history.

. . . eminently readable . . . admirably picks up the spirit of what Hegel is saying. . . . more readable and accurate than Hartmann's, and it trans lates a more readable text than does Nisbet's. It includes (as Hartmann's does not) an excerpt, which serves as chapter five, from 'The Geo graphical Basis of History' (particularly interesting for what it says of America), and a brief chapter six, entitled 'The Division of History.' The volume closes with an appendix, translating 341--360 of Hegel's Philosophy of Right and deals directly with the very concept of 'World History.' It constitutes a big help in coming to grips with what Hegel means by 'Spirit.' --Quentin Lauer, SJ, Fordham University, in International Philosophical Quarterly

Two distinguished historians, one an advocate of the new scientific or "cliometric" history and the other a traditional historian, debate the validity of their respective methods of studying the past. While they differ sharply on many issues, in the end they agree that history is a vigorous, evolving discipline able to absorb the best of both scientific and humanistic thought. "Fogel asserts persuasively that cliometrics is best characterized by the explicit use of social science theory, and only secondly by its use of quantification.... Elton elegantly defends the traditional virtues of catholicity of method, skepticism toward sources, and informed scholarship. The two scholars' evident respect for each other enriches the debates as well as humanizes it." -David Keymer, Library Journal "Both scholars are leading representatives of their modi operandi, and both have laid down path-breaking, interpretations of their subjects of study, leaving controversy and new methodology in their wake. It is therefore an event unto itself that two such professors of history should pause for a moment to meet at the fork in the road and debate the roads to the past." -Mark R. Horowitz, History Today "Anyone interested in historiography will find [this book] useful." -Vincent A. Lapomarda, America

Georg Lukacs' early Marxist philosophy of the 1920s laid the foundations of Critical Theory. However the evaluation of Lukacs' philosophical contribution has been largely determined by one-sided readings of eminent theorists like Adorno, Habermas, Honneth or even Lukacs himself. This book offers a new reconstruction of Lukacs' early Marxist work, capable of restoring its dialectical complexity by highlighting its roots in his neo-Kantian, 'pre-Marxist' period. In his pre-Marxist work Lukacs sought to articulate a critique of formalism from the standpoint of a dubious mystical ethics of revolutionary praxis. Consequently, Lukacs discovered a more coherent and realistic answer to his philosophical dilemmas in Marxism. At the same time, he retained his neo-Kantian reservations about idealist dialectics. In his reading of historical materialism he combined non-idealist, non-systematic historical dialectics with an emphasis on conscious, collective, transformative praxis. Reformulated in this way Lukacs' classical argument plays a central role within a radical Critical Theory.

John William Miller (1895-1978) taught at Williams College, where from 1945 to 1960 he was Mark Hopkins Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. His extraordinary teaching is described in Masters: Portraits of Great Teachers, edited by Joseph Epstein. While deeply indebted to Plato, Kant, and Hegel, Miller arrived at a strikingly original reinterpretation of the history of philosophy, which, he believed, resolved long-standing epistemological and moral problems generated by that history.

The Philosophy of History criticizes all attempts to interpret history on premises not themselves historical. Miller holds that "to view history philosophically is to consider it as a constitutional mode of experience, a way of organization no less fundamental than physics or logic".

In The Definition of the Thing, an unusually provocative and original essay, Miller had already worked out a number of the basic contentions of his mature philosophy.

A classic volume by a noted philosopher, available again. John William Miller (1895-1978) taught at Williams College, where from 1945 to 1960 he was Mark Hopkins Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. His extraordinary teaching is described in Masters: Portraits of Great Teachers, edited by Joseph Epstein. While deeply indebted to Plato, Kant, and Hegel, Miller arrived at a strikingly original reinterpretation of the history of philosophy, which, he believed, resolved long-standing epistemological and moral problems generated by that history. In The Definition of the Thing, an unusually provocative and original essay, Miller had works out a number of the basic contentions of his mature philosophy.

From Reliable Sources is a lively introduction to historical methodology, an overview of the techniques historians must master in order to reconstruct the past. Its focus on the basics of source criticism, rather than on how to find references or on the process of writing, makes it an invaluable guide for all students of history and for anyone who must extract meaning from written and unwritten sources.

Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier explore the methods employed by historians to establish the reliability of materials; how they choose, authenticate, decode, compare, and, finally, interpret those sources. Illustrating their discussion with examples from the distant past as well as more contemporary events, they pay particular attention to recent information media, such as television, film, and videotape.

The authors do not subscribe to the positivist belief that the historian can attain objective and total knowledge of the past. Instead, they argue that each generation of historians develops its own perspective, and that our understanding of the past is constantly reshaped by the historian and the world he or she inhabits.

A substantially revised and updated edition of Prevenier's Uit goede bron, originally published in Belgium and now in its seventh edition, From Reliable Sources also provides a survey of western historiography and an extensive research bibliography.

"Every working historian, from the novice to the veteran, from the untrained amateur to the professionally prepared, can profit immeasurably from this important work. . . . The Rhetoric of History belongs on the shelf of all those who aspire to effective historical authorship." Choice The sole purpose of this book, said author Savoie Lottinville, is "to help the person committed to history to become an effective writer in that inviting field." Lottinville emphasizes that writing must be practiced as a discipline, as exacting as research and as elusive as achievement in any other art. As every historian discovers, it is one thing to learn historical method and amass data and quite another to write effectively about any period or episode. Research is an absorbing means to an end, but writing is often baffling, especially to the beginner. The Rhetoric of History analyzes techniques historians need to employ and includes examples of the writing styles of many of the most notable historians of the United States and Europe. Covering topics like conceptualization in history, constructing scenes, narrative structures, analytical historical writing and editing, The Rhetoric of History will prove to be indispensable to historians-both professional and amateur. Savoie Lottinville, was director of the University of Oklahoma Press for thirty years and editor of Life of George Bent: Written from His Letters and A Journal of Travels into the Arkansas Territory During the Year 1819, both published by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Henry Home, Lord Kames, was by nature an advocate for reform and improvement and stood at the heart of the modernizing and liberalizing movement now known as the Scottish Enlightenment. The reaction to his Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion was a defining moment in the establishment of the predominance of moderation in the Church of Scotland. Divided into three books, Kamess 'Sketches of the History of Man' draws together the concerns of many of his earlier works. The first book considers man in the private sphere and presents Kamess version of the "four-stage theory of history": the progress, that is, from hunting, through 'the shepherd state' to agriculture, and thence to commerce. It contains, in addition, sketches on progress in the arts, taste, manners, and appetite for luxury goods. The second book takes as its subject man in the public sphere and explores the implications of his natural 'appetite for society'. Kames develops the notion that political, legal, and financial institutions are best regulated when it is understood that they are outgrowths of aspects of human nature. In the final book, Kames turns to an account of progress in the sciences of logic, morals, and theology. He seeks to vindicate the claim that "human understanding is in a progress towards maturity, however slow". Throughout the entire work, Kames expounds on his fundamental hypothesis that at the beginning of the history of the human race, savagery was ubiquitous and that the human story is one of an emergence out of barbarism and toward maturity.

The prospectus that announced the creation of The Institute of the Humanities promised an inaugural course of twelve lectures, to be given by its founder and entitled, "Concerning a New Interpretation of International History. (Exposition and Examination of A. J. Toynbee's work, A Study of History.)" But the course as given (in 1948-49) went much farther than that announcement, for the "examination" consisted principally of a critique of Toynbee's work from the point of view of Ortega's own doctrines, together with the unfolding of his personal ideas about the science of history and the progress of peoples-in particular the Romans-with frequent side excursions, meant to be systematic, into the crisis of the present time. The central theme of these pages becomes "the analysis of life established in illegitimacy . . . of which the two gigantic examples are the declining days of the Roman Empire and the period in which we ourselves are living." To the modern crisis, Ortega brings a basic analysis and a program of reform for intelligence by which contemporary life might emerge from the confusion it now suffers.

From Simon & Schuster, the Adventures of Ideas is Alfred North Whitehead's historical adventure. The title of this book, Adventures of Ideas, bears two meanings, both applicable to the subject-matter. One meaning is the effect of certain ideas in promoting the slow drift of mankind towards civilization. This is the Adventure of Ideas in the history of mankind. The other meaning is the author's adventure in framing a speculative scheme of ideas which shall be explanatory of the historical adventure.

with an afterword by John William Miller

Four stimulating essays: "The Sportive Origin of the State," "Unity and Diversity in Europe," "Man the Technician," and "History as a System."

"Senor Ortega y Gasset has contributed a thoughtful and a careful analysis of our present situation. If he is correct, then nationalism and liberalism as we have known them in the past are doomed. A new and perhaps a better order and conditioning of life are on the way. This book attempts to justify historically the coming of great change—the same great change that was prophesied by Wiliam Morris in England, more than half a century ago." —New York Times

Told for the very first time, this is the true story of the adventure that shaped the world . . . 'A thrilling story of courage, survival and science. It's an extraordinary, visceral and vivid read' Geographical Magazine ________ Three hundred years ago no one knew the true shape of the world. It wasn't a sphere - but did it bulge at the equator or was it pointed at the poles? Until we found out no map could ever be truly accurate. So a team of scientists was sent to South America - to measure one full degree of latitude. But South America was a land of erupting volcanoes, sodden rainforests, earthquakes, deadly diseases, tropical storms and violent unrest. And the misfit scientists had an unfortunate tendency to squander funds, fight duels, stumble into mutinies or die horribly. The tale of their ten-year odyssey of exploration, discovery, flirtations with failure and ultimate triumph becomes in Nicholas Crane's hands the greatest scientific adventure story ever told. ________ 'Pace, rigour and attention to enticing detail . . . Crane has a rare knack for showing people things without them having to get out of their chair' Joe Smith, director of The Royal Geographic society

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

Does history matter? Is it anything more than entertainment? And if so, what practical relevance does it have? In this fully revised second edition of a seminal text, John Tosh persuasively argues that history is central to an informed and critical understanding of topical issues in the present. Including a range of contemporary examples from Brexit to child sexual abuse to the impact of the internet, this is an important and practical introduction for all students of history. Inspiring and empowering, this book provides both students and general readers with a stimulating and practical rationale for the study of history. It is essential reading for all undergraduate students of history who require an engaging introduction to the subject. New to this Edition: - Illustrative examples and case studies are fully updated - Features a postscript on British historians and Brexit - Bibliography is heavily revised

In 1808, Napoleon I (1769 1821), emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815, commissioned a series of reports on the progress of scientific research since 1789. Published in 1810, this report on the current state of history and classical literature was edited by the French historian, philologist and colleague of Champollion, Bon-Joseph Dacier (1742 1833). The translator of Xenophon's Cyropaedia (1777) and other classical texts, Dacier was elected to the Acad mie Fran aise in 1822. The report provides an introduction by Dacier himself and an overview of works published in Europe between 1789 and 1808. The remainder of the book was written by experts, such as the Orientalist Silvestre de Sacy (1758 1838) on oriental languages and literatures, and the architect Louis Visconti (1791 1853) on philology and antiquities. It also includes contributions on ancient, medieval and modern history, and on philosophy.

Intellectual historian Michael S. Roth has spent more than two decades exploring the way we make meaning out of the past. This collection features his most influential essays, in which he uses psychoanalysis to build a richer understanding of history, and then takes a more expansive conception of history to decode the cultural construction of memory.

His collection consists of five sections. The first examines the development in nineteenth-century France of professional criteria for diagnosing memory disorders--criteria that signal fundamental changes in the understanding of present and past. The second section explores links between historical consciousness and issues relating to the psyche, including trauma and repression and hypnosis and therapy. Roth next examines the work of postmodern theorists in light of the philosophy of history. Then he considers photography and its capturing of traces of the past, which propose connection while acknowledging otherness. Roth focuses on piety and how it turns us to the past, or how we strive to be faithful to the past without necessarily getting it right or using it well. Roth concludes with essays on the promises and risks of liberal education, calling for a pragmatic and reflexive approach to thinking and learning. Drawing on his vast experiences as a teacher and academic leader, Roth speaks of living with the past without being dominated by it and of remaining open to the possibility of sharing our lives with others.

This book is about history and the practical power of language to reveal historical change. Christopher Ehret offers a methodological guide to applying language evidence in historical studies. He demonstrates how these methods allow us not only to recover the histories of time periods and places poorly served by written documentation, but also to enrich our understanding of well-documented regions and eras. A leading historian as well as historical linguist of Africa, Ehret provides in-depth examples from the language phyla of Africa, arguing that his comprehensive treatment can be applied by linguistically trained historians and historical linguists working with any language and in any area of the world.