Telling the Truth About History (Norton Paperback)

This book is about historiography or how we gain knowledge in order to write history, to begin with, and the different approaches contained therein. It starts with the earliest accounts of history and then explores how the profession has developed over time. There have been different approaches and methods for writing about history over time and the authors explore how the major trends developed and how they influence how we view history and the past. While no historical account is an exact portrayal of the past in all its infinite detail, the authors make the case for the importance of it all the same. History enriches our view of the world while raising deeper and more probing questions in its research. It has grown as our society has grown and it is this growth and the important questions that it raises that make it still relevant to us today. This is an academic book but it is still clearly written and would be useful for anyone interested in the actual practice of history and the many different approaches to this dynamic academic field.

This is one of those difficult books that I have been picking at for a long time. Assigned for a graduate seminar on history as a field of knowledge at a state university, it formed the central textbook for the class. I can describe it as hairy, that is difficult to deal with or comprehend and argumentative. It tries to argue for an objective search for the truth in history writing (historiography). But it has its agendas. First, describing and then knocking down the absolutes of scientific objectivity in history, and then going through the history of how history has been taught in the United States. The book uses the phrase "heroic science" throughout the text -- which is funny as it reminds me of heroic fantasy fiction. It also brings a feminist perspective to the teaching of history, and defends the validity of social history in spite of its relativism. It discusses history as a field of knowledge and as instrumental for national and social identity, and how it is used for political purposes. It goes through the various phases of historical critique, including postmodernism, critiques the knowability of the past, but it returns to the possibility of knowing an objective truth of history, however it needs to be a collective effort which requires expertise in various subfields of history: labor history, economic history, gender history, black history, all in addition to the traditional political history. A long, slow read. Much blather and preaching from their political perspective, yet a central book for the course. It in fact describes what the graduate seminar was about: history as a field of knowledge, what is knowable about history, and is it true? Is history a social construct used for crass patriotism or is it part of human experience apart from the modern concept of a nation? Is history everybody's history? They conclude everybody has a different view of history and how that history shapes their worldview. The unified consensus history of the Anglo-Saxon elites cannot work any more, we are too much of a pluralistic society for such conservative nationalist accounts to be valid. That is one of the chief arguments of the book

Best review of the subject since Herodotus. The conclusions are spot on as shown by the unhappy reaction by historians and philosophers. Reminds me of the response to Tom Kuhn.

This book explains today’s Trumpian ascent. It presents an unvarnished view of America from the revolution and the « progress made to the 1990’s. But, it’s all that a discerning citizen needs to know about how we got to Trumpia.

This book was at times dense, requiring all my attention and all the caffeine, but overall, it was a solid look at the philosophies behind teaching history, why objectivism is crucial, and how we have evolved in our understanding of history over the centuries.

I read it for a Master's class. It was one of the better books we've read so far. I have to get back to my school work though, so this review is done.

The book itself is fine, but it did not include the cover on the book despite showing so in the photo. No description provided any detail that there would be missing pieces to this book. As an educator using this for a course, it does not meet my standards.

Great book for teaching historiography and a real "manifesto" for writing history that is inclusive and deals with the intersectional issues (gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion) that had been ignored by "professional" historians until about thirty years ago. Wonderfully--and seamlessly--written despite the three authors.

This book presents a useful history of the academic discipline and the challenges it faces in contemporary times. Very accessible and interesting for a diverse number of readers.

if you enjoy history, I highly recommend it

Required reading for uni