History is to society what memory is to the individual. Without it, we don’t know who we are and we can’t make wise decisions about our future. But while the nature of memory is constant, the nature of history has changed radically over the past forty years.
In The Purpose of the Past, historian Gordon S. Wood examines this sea change in his field through consideration of some of its most important historians and their works. He offers wonderful insight into what great historians do, how they can stumble, and what strains of thought have dominated the marketplace of ideas in historical scholarship. The result is a history of American history, as well as an argument for its ongoing necessity.
A commanding assessment of the field by one of its masters, The Purpose of the Past will enlarge every reader’s capacity to appreciate history.
Wood, a professor of history at Brown University, and that rare gem of an academic who can write for a general audience, gives a critique of the current state of the discipline of history. This collection of his essays and book reviews balances Wood's view of what is good about the new trends--the inclusion of heretofore largely ignored demographic groups--with his view of what is hurting the profession--relativism. Malcolm Hillgartner gives a superb performance in narrating this work. His reading sounds effortless, making it appear that he's delivering all of the material from memory, without any pause or hesitation. The listener is quickly engaged by Hillgartner, and he doesn't let go. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
About the Creator
GORDON S. WOOD is the Alva O. Way University Professor and a professor of history at Brown University. His 1992 book, The Radicalism of the American Revolution, won the Pulitzer Prize and the Emerson Prize. He contributes regularly to the New Republic and New York Times Review of Books.
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