Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Leonardo Bruni (c.13701444), the historian who first divided history into the thr
ee eras of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and Modern times.
The Romans adopted the Greek tradition. While early Roman works were still writt
en in Greek, the Origines, composed by the Roman statesman Cato the Elder (234149
BCE), was written in Latin, in a conscious effort to counteract Greek cultural
influence. Strabo (63 BCE c. 24 CE) was an important exponent of the Greco-Roman t
radition of combining geography with history, presenting a descriptive history o
f peoples and places known to his era. Livy (59 BCE 17 CE) records the rise of R
ome from city-state to empire. His speculation about what would have happened if
Alexander the Great had marched against Rome represents the first known instanc
e of alternate history.[9]
In Chinese historiography, the Classic of History is one of the Five Classics of
Chinese classic texts and one of the earliest narratives of China. The Spring a
nd Autumn Annals, the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period
from 722 to 481 BCE, is among the earliest surviving Chinese historical texts to
be arranged on annalistic principles. Sima Qian (around 100 BCE) was the first
in China to lay the groundwork for professional historical writing. His written
work was the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), a monumental lifelong achie
vement in literature. Its scope extends as far back as the 16th century BCE, and
it includes many treatises on specific subjects and individual biographies of p
rominent people, and also explores the lives and deeds of commoners, both contem
porary and those of previous eras.[10]
A page of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Christian historiography began early, perhaps as early as Luke-Acts, which is th
e primary source for the Apostolic Age. Writing history was popular among Christ
ian monks and clergy in the Middle Ages. They wrote about the history of Jesus C
hrist, that of the Church and that of their patrons, the dynastic history of the
local rulers. In the Early Middle Ages historical writing often took the form o
f annals or chronicles recording events year by year, but this style tended to h
amper the analysis of events and causes.[11] An example of this type of writing
is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, which were the work of several different writers:
it was started during the reign of Alfred the Great in the late 9th century, bu
t one copy was still being updated in 1154.
Muslim historical writings first began to develop in the 7th century, with the r
econstruction of the Prophet Muhammad's life in the centuries following his deat
h. With numerous conflicting narratives regarding Muhammad and his companions fr
om various sources, it was necessary to verify which sources were more reliable.
In order to evaluate these sources, various methodologies were developed, such
as the "science of biography", "science of hadith" and "Isnad" (chain of transmi
ssion). These methodologies were later applied to other historical figures in th
e Islamic civilization. Famous historians in this tradition include Urwah (d. 71
2), Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. 728), Ibn Ishaq (d. 761), al-Waqidi (745822), Ibn Hisha
m (d. 834), Muhammad al-Bukhari (810870) and Ibn Hajar (13721449).
Enlightenment[edit]
During the Age of Enlightenment, the modern development of historiography throug
h the application of scrupulous methods began.
Voltaire's works of history are an excellent example of Enlightenment era histor
y writing. Painting by Pierre Charles Baquoy.
French philosophe Voltaire (16941778) had an enormous influence on the art of his
tory writing. His best-known histories are The Age of Louis XIV (1751), and Essa
y on the Customs and the Spirit of the Nations (1756). "My chief object," he wro
te in 1739, "is not political or military history, it is the history of the arts
, of commerce, of civilization in a word, of the human mind."[12] He broke from
the tradition of narrating diplomatic and military events, and emphasized custom
s, social history and achievements in the arts and sciences. He was the first sc
holar to make a serious attempt to write the history of the world, eliminating t
heological frameworks, and emphasizing economics, culture and political history.
Edward Gibbon's Decline of the Roman Empire (1776) was a masterpiece of late 18t
h-century history writing.
At the same time, philosopher David Hume was having a similar impact on history
in Great Britain. In 1754 he published the History of England, a 6-volume work w
hich extended "From the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688". Hu
me adopted a similar scope to Voltaire in his history; as well as the history of
Kings, Parliaments, and armies, he examined the history of culture, including l
iterature and science, as well.[13] William Robertson, a Scottish historian, and
the Historiographer Royal[14] published the History of Scotland 1542 - 1603, in
1759 and his most famous work, The history of the reign of Charles V in 1769.[1
5] His scholarship was painstaking for the time and he was able to access a larg
e number of documentary sources that had previously been unstudied. He was also
one of the first historians who understood the importance of general and univers
ally applicable ideas in the shaping of historical events.[16]
The apex of Enlightenment history was reached with Edward Gibbon's, monumental s
ix-volume work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, publish
ed on 17 February 1776. Because of its relative objectivity and heavy use of pri
mary sources, at the time its methodology became a model for later historians. T
his has led to Gibbon being called the first "modern historian".[17] The book so
ld impressively, earning its author a total of about 9000. Biographer Leslie Step
hen wrote that thereafter, "His fame was as rapid as it has been lasting."
19th century[edit]
The tumultuous events surrounding the French Revolution inspired much of the his
toriography and analysis of the early 19th century. Interest in the 1688 Gloriou
s Revolution was also rekindled by the Great Reform Act of 1832 in England.
Thomas Carlyle published his magnum opus, the three-volume The French Revolution
: A History in 1837.[18][19] The resulting work had a passion new to historical
writing. The work charts the course of the French Revolution from 1789 to the he
ight of the Reign of Terror (179394) and culminates in 1795. A massive undertakin
g which draws together a wide variety of sources, Carlyle's historydespite the un
usual style in which it is writtenis considered to be an authoritative account of
the early course of the Revolution. Thomas Macaulay produced his most famous wo
rk of history, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, in
1848.[20] His writings are famous for their ringing prose and for their confide
nt, sometimes dogmatic, emphasis on a progressive model of British history, acco
rding to which the country threw off superstition, autocracy and confusion to cr
eate a balanced constitution and a forward-looking culture combined with freedom
of belief and expression. This model of human progress has been called the Whig
interpretation of history.[21]
Jules Michelet, later in his career.
In his main work Histoire de France, French historian Jules Michelet coined the
term Renaissance (meaning "Re-birth" in French language), as a period in Europe'
s cultural history that represented a break from the Middle Ages, creating a mod
ern understanding of humanity and its place in the world.[22] The nineteen volum
e work covered French history from Charlemagne to the outbreak of the Revolution
. Michelet was one of the first historians to shift the emphasis of history to t
he common people, rather than the leaders and institutions of the country. Anoth
er important French historian of the period was Hippolyte Taine. He was the chie
f theoretical influence of French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological
omplex, which 'goes out to meet the past', which searches for 'unlikenesses betw
een past and present'".[34] Butterfield's formulation received much attention, a
nd the kind of historical writing he argued against in generalised terms is no l
onger academically respectable.[35]
The 20th century saw the creation of a huge variety of historiographical approac
hes. Marc Bloch's focus on social history rather than traditional political hist
ory was of tremendous influence.
The French Annales School radically changed the focus of historical research in
France during the 20th century by stressing long-term social history, rather tha
n political or diplomatic themes. The school emphasized the use of quantificatio
n and the paying of special attention to geography.[36][37] An eminent member of
this school, Georges Duby, described his approach to history as one that
relegated the sensational to the sidelines and was reluctant to give a simple ac
counting of events, but strived on the contrary to pose and solve problems and,
neglecting surface disturbances, to observe the long and medium-term evolution o
f economy, society and civilisation.
Marxist historiography developed as a school of historiography influenced by the
chief tenets of Marxism, including the centrality of social class and economic
constraints in determining historical outcomes. Friedrich Engels wrote The Condi
tion of the Working Class in England in 1844, which was salient in creating the
socialist impetus in British politics from then on, e.g. the Fabian Society. R.
H. Tawney's The Agrarian Problem in the Sixteenth Century (1912)[38] and Religio
n and the Rise of Capitalism (1926), reflected his ethical concerns and preoccup
ations in economic history. A circle of historians inside the Communist Party of
Great Britain (CPGB) formed in 1946 and became a highly influential cluster of
British Marxist historians, who contributed to history from below and class stru
cture in early capitalist society. Members included Christopher Hill, Eric Hobsb
awm and E. P. Thompson.
World history, as a distinct field of historical study, emerged as an independen
t academic field in the 1980s. It focused on the examination of history from a g
lobal perspective and looked for common patterns that emerged across all culture
s. Arnold J. Toynbee's ten-volume A Study of History, written between 1933 and 1
954, was an important influence on this developing field. He took a comparative
topical approach to independent civilizations and demonstrated that they display
ed striking parallels in their origin, growth, and decay.[39] William H. McNeill
wrote The Rise of the West (1965) to improve upon Toynbee by showing how the se
parate civilizations of Eurasia interacted from the very beginning of their hist
ory, borrowing critical skills from one another, and thus precipitating still fu
rther change as adjustment between traditional old and borrowed new knowledge an
d practice became necessary.[40]
Education and profession[edit]
Simon Schama, a professional historian
An undergraduate history degree is often used as a stepping stone to graduate st
udies in business or law. Many historians are employed at universities and other
facilities for post-secondary education.[41] In addition, it is normal for coll
eges and universities to require the PhD degree for new full-time hires, and a m
aster's degree for part-timers. Publication is increasingly required by smaller
schools, so graduate papers become journal articles and PhD dissertations become
published monographs. The graduate student experience is difficultthose who fini
sh their doctorate in the United States take on average 8 or more years; funding
is scarce except at a few very rich universities. Being a teaching assistant in
a course is required in some programs; in others it is a paid opportunity award
ed a fraction of the students. Until the 1980s it was rare for graduate programs
to teach how to teach; the assumption was that teaching was easy and that learn
ing how to do research was the main mission.[42][43]
Professional historians typically work in colleges and universities, archival ce
nters, government agencies, museums, and as freelance writers and consultants.[4
4] The job market for new PhDs in history is poor and getting worse, with many r
elegated to part-time "adjunct" teaching jobs with low pay and no benefits.[45]
See also[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Historians.
List of historians
Antiquarian
Auxiliary sciences of history
Historiography
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ "Historian". Wordnetweb.princeton.edu. Retrieved June 27, 2008.
Jump up ^ Herman, A. M. (1998). Occupational outlook handbook: 1998-99 edition.
Indianapolis: JIST Works. Page 525.
^ Jump up to: a b Schneider 2001, p. 1531.
Jump up ^ Schneider 2001, p. 1534.
Jump up ^ Schneider 2001, pp. 1534, 1535.
Jump up ^ Schneider 2001, pp. 1534, 1538.
Jump up ^ Schneider 2001, p. 1539.
Jump up ^ "deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence" Just
ice Charles Gray (Schneider 2001, p. 1533)
Jump up ^ "Livy's History of Rome: Book 9". Mcadams.posc.mu.edu. Retrieved 201008-28.
Jump up ^ Jrn Rsen (2007). Time and History: The Variety of Cultures. Berghahn Boo
ks. pp. 5455. ISBN 978-1-84545-349-7.
Jump up ^ Warren, John (1998). The past and its presenters: an introduction to i
ssues in historiography, Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN 0-340-67934-4, pp. 7879.
Jump up ^ E. Sreedharan (2004). A Textbook of Historiography: 500 BC to AD 2000.
Orient Blackswan. p. 115.
Jump up ^ Wertz, S. K. (1993). "Hume and the Historiography of Science". Journal
of the History of Ideas 54 (3): 411436. doi:10.2307/2710021.
Jump up ^ The Poker Club
Jump up ^ Sher, R. B., Church and Society in the Scottish Enlightenment: The Mod
erate Literati of Edinburgh, Princeton, 1985.
Jump up ^ "William Robertson: An 18th Century Anthropologist-Historian" (PDF). R
etrieved 2012-12-17.
Jump up ^ Deborah Parsons (2007). Theorists of the Modernist Novel: James Joyce,
Dorothy Richardson and Virginia Woolf. Routledge. p. 94.
Jump up ^ "Carlyle The Sage Of Chelsea". English Literature For Boys And Girls.
Farlex Free Library. Retrieved 2009-09-19. |chapter= ignored (help)
Jump up ^ Lundin, Leigh (2009-09-20). "Thomas Carlyle". Professional Works. Crim
inal Brief. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
Jump up ^ Macaulay, Thomas Babington, History of England. Philadelphia, Pennsylv
ania: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1878. Vol. V, title page and prefatory "Memoir of
Lord Macaulay".
Jump up ^ J. R. Western, Monarchy and Revolution. The English State in the 1680s
(London: Blandford Press, 1972), p. 403.
Jump up ^ Brotton, Jerry (2002). The Renaissance Bazaar. Oxford University Press
. pp. 2122.
Jump up ^ Kelly, R. Gordon, "Literature and the Historian", American Quarterly,
Vol. 26, No. 2 (1974), 143.
Jump up ^ Jakob Burckhardt Renaissance Cultural History
Jump up ^ John Lukacs, Remembered Past: John Lukacs on History, Historians, and
Historical Knowledge, ed. Mark G Malvasi and Jeffrey O. Nelson, Wilmington, DE:
ISI Books, 2004, 215.
Jump up ^ s:A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Stubbs, Willia
m
Jump up ^ Georgiy Kasianov, Philipp Terr (2010-04-07). A Laboratory of Transnati
onal History Ukraine and recent Ukrainian historiography. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-84545
-621-4. Retrieved October 18, 2010. This essay deals with, what I call, "nationa
lized history", meaning a way of perceiving, understanding and treating the past
that requires separation of "one's own" history from "common" history and its c
onstruction as history of a nation.
Jump up ^ Frederick C. Beiser (2011) The German Historicist Tradition, p.254
Jump up ^ Janelle G. Reinelt, Joseph Roach (2007), Critical Theory and Performan
ce, p. 193
Jump up ^ Stern (ed.), The Varieties of History, p. 54: "Leopold von Ranke (17951
886) is the father as well as the master of modern historical scholarship."
Jump up ^ Green and Troup (eds.), The Houses of History, p. 2: "Leopold von Rank
e was instrumental in establishing professional standards for historical trainin
g at the University of Berlin between 1824 and 1871."
Jump up ^ E. Sreedharan, A textbook of historiography, 500 BC to AD 2000 (2004)
p 185
Jump up ^ Ernst Mayr, "When Is Historiography Whiggish?" Journal of the History
of Ideas, April 1990, Vol. 51 Issue 2, pp 301309 in JSTOR
Jump up ^ Adrian Wilson and T. G. Ashplant, "Whig History and Present-Centred Hi
story," The Historical Journal, 31 (1988): 116, at p. 10.
Jump up ^ G. M. Trevelyan (1992), p. 208.
Jump up ^ See Lucien Febvre, La Terre et l'volution humaine (1922), translated as
A Geographical Introduction to History (London, 1932).
Jump up ^ See for recent issues
Jump up ^ William Rose Bent (1988) p. 961
Jump up ^ William H. McNeill, Arnold J. Toynbee a Life (1989)
Jump up ^ McNeill, William H. (1995). "The Changing Shape of World History". His
tory and Theory 34 (2): 826. doi:10.2307/2505432.
Jump up ^ bls.gov : Social Scientists, Other Archived March 3, 2012, at the Wayb
ack Machine.
Jump up ^ Michael Kammen, "Some Reminiscences and Reflections on Graduate Educat
ion in History, Reviews in American History Volume 36, Number 3, Sept 2008 pp. 4
68-484 doi:10.1353/rah.0.0027
Jump up ^ Walter Nugent, "Reflections: "Where Have All the Flowers Gone . . . Wh
en Will They Ever Learn?", Reviews in American History Volume 39, Number 1, Marc
h 2011, pp. 205-211 doi:10.1353/rah.2011.0055
Jump up ^ Anthony Grafton and Robert B. Townsend, "The Parlous Paths of the Prof
ession" Perspectives on History (Sept. 2008) online
Jump up ^ Robert B. Townsend, "Troubling News on Job Market for History PhDs," A
HA Today Jan. 04, 2010 online
References[edit]
Schneider, Wendie Ellen (June 2001). "Past Imperfect: Irving v. Penguin Books Lt
d., No. 1996-I-1113, 2000 WL 362478 (Q. B. Apr. 11), appeal denied (Dec. 18, 200
0)" (PDF). The Yale Law Journal (Published by: The Yale Law Journal Company) 110
(8): 15311545. doi:10.2307/797584.
Vidor, Gian Marco (2015). "Emotions and writing the history of death. An intervi
ew with Michel Vovelle, Rgis Bertrand and Anne Carol". Mortality (Routledge) 20 (
1). doi:10.1080/13576275.2014.984485.
Further reading[edit]
The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature ed. by Mary
Beth Norton and Pamela Gerardi (3rd ed. 2 vol, Oxford U.P. 1995) 2064 pages; an
notated guide to 27,000 of the most important English language history books in
all fields and topics vol 1 online, vol 2 online
Allison, William Henry. A guide to historical literature (1931) comprehensive bi
bliography for scholarship to 1930. online edition
Barnes, Harry ElmerA history of historical writing (1962)
Barraclough, Geoffrey. History: Main Trends of Research in the Social and Human
Sciences, (1978)
Bentley, Michael. ed., Companion to Historiography, Routledge, 1997, ISBN 041503
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