History as a field of learning is in a state of crisis. It has lost
much of its influence in institutions of higher learning and its
place in public esteem. Historians have, in large part, lost touch
with the intelligent lay reader and with the undergraduate college
student. History's value to society is being questioned. In this
work, a distinguished historian views the profession to which he
has been devoted for more than thirty years. Theodore S. Hamerow's
learned observations will be welcomed by all historians and by
those involved in the management of higher education, and should be
required reading for all graduate students in history. Far from
being a sentimental look at the past, Hamerow's work confronts the
unpleasant reality of the present. History, he says flatly, is a
discipline in retreat. The profession is in serious trouble and
there are no signs that its problems will be resolved in the
foreseeable future. After identifying the current crisis, Hamerow
proceeds to trace the development of the profession over the last
hundred years and to examine its characteristics in modern society.
In this section of the book he shares some fascinating practical
observations on the ways in which the profession operates. Hamerow
explains why some historians rise to prominence while others do
not. He also examines causes of the dissatisfactions that afflict
many historians and their students. Hamerow also examines the way
in which academic historians live their lives, as he expands on the
daily realities that they face. He then explains how those
realities have shaped scholarship and led to the "new history." The
broad use of social science methods, he observes, has had the
effect of isolating the new historians from traditional historians,
indeed from one another. Couched in the arcane prose of
machine-readable languages, says Hamerow, history has become
inaccessible to the intelligent lay reader who had once read
historical works with interest, understanding, and appreciation. In
concluding his examination, Hamerow asks, "What is the use of
history?" It has long been a favorite question asked by historians,
but seldom one over which they agonized for very long. After
considering various arguments for the usefulness of historical
investigation, Hamerow offers his own justification. There are
times, says Hamerow, when even the most spontaneous or instructive
cultural pursuits need to be examined in the light of the purposes
they serve and the goals they seek. Now might be a good time for
all historians to take a long look at the direction their
discipline has taken in the past century, at the functions it has
come to perform, and at the serious dilemma it now faces. Hamerow
is a steady and helpful guide to any such examination.
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