Man on His Past

This book is an extended version of the Wiles lectures and illustrates the rise, scope, methods and objectives of the history of historiography.

Herbert Butterfield (Author)

9780521095679, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 May 1969

260 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.5 cm, 0.34 kg

'A distinguished contribution to the 'study of the history of civilisation … and the extension of historical thinking into the realm of general ideas.' Manchester Guardian

This book is an extended version of the Wiles lectures given at the Queen's University, Belfast, in 1954. It illustrates the rise, scope, methods and objectives of the history of historiography. The topics selected for discussion give a general outline of the modern historical movement from the mid-eighteenth century to the contribution of Lord Acton in the late nineteenth century. Significant landmarks in the history of historical scholarship are examined to illustrate the various kinds of treatment that can be given to the subject.

Preface
1. The history of historiography: 2. The rise of the German historical school
3. Lord Acton and the nineteenth-century historical movement
4. Ranke and the conception of 'general history'
5. The reconstruction of an historical episode: the history of the enquiry into the origins of the Seven Years War
6. Lord Acton and the Massacre of St. Bartholomew
Appendices.

Subject Areas: History [HB]