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Lädt ... Geschichte: Eine kurze Einführungvon John H. Arnold
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Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest. Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch. HISTORY, A Very Short Introduction, by John H. Arnold (pp 123). This an utterly fascinating explanation of history, how it’s written, who writes it, what it’s based on, and so much more. HISTORY is fascinating in part because of the polarization of viewpoints in our daily lives, including current day journalism and books we read written by authors who explain what’s happening, invariably from one or another viewpoint. We often think of history as a recitation of mostly verifiable facts put into a logical (and correct) order, and only slightly if at all influenced by the historian. Arnold contends—accurately in my opinion—few of the facts we rely on, at least with respect to human behavior (as opposed to the existence of a physical artifact), is truly verifiable. All history is written for a purpose, by someone with a perspective, based on a finite number of historical occurrences, and with gaps in knowledge that require guessing by each author. Historical facts or events are necessarily seen amidst incomplete contexts. The author illustrates many of his assertions by using several historical personages (some widely know, others less so) and events in which they were involved. To illustrate part of the difficulty of writing history, let alone reading it and trying to decide what is true irrespective of the author’s beliefs, I give the following example. (The U.S. Civil War is not mentioned in this book.) Think of a famous general (in part because we often read about history as it was influenced or even directed by near-mythical heroes) who has just won a major battle. An author may assert that generalship determined the outcome. However, what might another historian emphasize in explaining the outcome of that conflict? Possibly the foe’s abysmal generalship was determinative, and not the hero’s. Other factors that might have been important and deserve emphasis could be: weather, weaponry, defenses, logistics (who was well fed and had enough bullets), the morale of the soldiers, illness and disease of combatants, political forces (why the battle was being fought), terrain, exhaustion of key players, everything leading up to the battle, and so much more. Without some idea of other key elements, we have to accept the historians assertion that McClellan outgeneraled Lee. Of course, good historians take into account other factors, but did they emphasize or even know about the most influential? Was the “win” unfair because it was influenced by captured battle plans? Did the fact that casualties were horrific on both sides make it effectively a loss for both? Did the fact it gave Lincoln the victory he needed to issue the emancipation make it a resounding victory? Did the fact that Lee, who was heavily outnumbered, retreated an continued fighting for two years make it a loss for the Union? Did the winning general’s subsequent removal because of poor performance affect one’s view of the outcome? There are lots of opinions out there, but which is the best conclusion? And that’s history. keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
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Wissenschaft von der Geschichte muss keine trockene Angelegenheit sein: Britische Historiker haben das häufig gezeigt, so auch der an der Universität von East Anglika lehrende Mediävist mit seiner sehr kurzen Einführung in diese Wissenschaft, die er samt lehrhafter Erörterung von Grundsatzfragen bei aller Gelehrsamkeit und Methodenstrenge anschaulich an Beispielen orientiert als spannende Lektüre darbietet. Der Diktion nach eher Rede denn Schreibe, geht diese Lehre von der Geschichte als Wissenschaft und Geschichtsschreibung vielleicht auf eine Vorlesung zurück. Auf leicht verständliche, gut nachvollziehbare Weise führt sie in Sinn, Zweck, Methoden und wissenschaftliche Grundlagen des Faches ein. Der kleinformatige Band ist deshalb besonders geeignet als Orientierungshilfe für die Studienfach-Wahl von Abiturienten und Studienanfänger. (2 S) (Friedrich Andrae) Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Often the book focuses more on asking questions than giving answers, but that's kind of the point - it's great for questioning the assumptions people might come into history with and pointing out how difficult it is to provide a definite understanding of the past. ( )