In Defence of History

Product Information

If you are feeling lost about what the study of history is, if you are puzzled by the recent brouhaha over cultural race theory (and let me clear that for you right away, CRT is not history), if you are revolted by historical revisionism, and why there seems to be always more of it, this is a book for you. Aside from the discussion of postmodernism, Evans helps make clear why history should remain a distinct subject of inquiry and what value it possesses. It is the 'facts' that are unstable, subject to revision and further interpretation, and even dismissable as illusions on sufficient grounds.

I found this book by the emeritus Regius Professor of Modern History agreeable and sensible, but a trifle disappointing. Dan penilaian tersebut - fakta mana yang perlu disebut, fakta mana yang perlu dinyah-sebut- adalah dibuat berdasarkan penilaian sang sejarahwan, yakni tafsirannya.

This seems to be fine with some people, and fine with the postmodernist theorist, however some, like Richard Evans, believe that there are serious problems with the above type of passivity. His books have been awarded the Wolfson History Prize and the Fraenkel Prize for Contemporary History. Evans himself was at the time an expert witness in the David Irving trial to establish whether holocaust denial was acceptable.

They would not, however, fit in any obvious way with the neatly categorised (and well written) argument presented in the book, so that it is easy to see why they are left out.But when postmodernism arrived on the scene some time ago, the cry to make history more like literature was a reaction to history’s tendency at the time to avoid narrative and stick to themes.

Evans defends this commitment to historical knowledge from the attacks of postmodernist critics who see all judgments as subjective. His many awards and distinctions include the British Academy Leverhulme Medal and Prize, the Norton Medlicott Medal of the Historical Association, the William H. then we will find that 'the limits which the language of the text imposes on the possibilities of interpretation' are set 'to a large extent by the original author' (p. Agak jarang satu-satu buku sejarah mampu membangkitkan satu-satu persengketaan dengan bahasa penulisan yang begitu tajam dan terang dalam sasaran permusuhannya.

It is depressing to think that this uninformed yet totally self-confident work of naive provincialism should come from close to the heartlands of English culture.