Yale University Press
History in the Making
Key Metrics
- J H Elliott
- Yale University Press
- Hardcover
- 9780300186383
- 8.76 X 5.85 X 1.03 inches
- 1.1 pounds
- Biography & Autobiography > Literary Figures
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
An eminent historian offers rare insight into his craft and the way it has changed over his lifetime
From the vantage point of nearly sixty years devoted to research and the writing of history, J. H. Elliott steps back from his work to consider the progress of historical scholarship. From his own experiences as a historian of Spain, Europe, and the Americas, he provides a deft and sharp analysis of the work that historians do and how the field has changed since the 1950s.
The author begins by explaining the roots of his interest in Spain and its past, then analyzes the challenges of writing the history of a country other than one's own. In succeeding chapters he offers acute observations on such topics as the history of national and imperial decline, political history, biography, and art and cultural history. Elliott concludes with an assessment of changes in the approach to history over the past half-century, including the impact of digital technology, and argues that a comprehensive vision of the past remains essential. Professional historians, students of history, and those who read history for pleasure will find in Elliott's delightful book a new appreciation of what goes into the shaping of historical works and how those works in turn can shape the world of thought and action.
Author Bio
Sir John Elliott is a historian of Spain, Europe and the Americas in the early modern period. He graduated in history at Trinity College Cambridge, of which he was a Fellow from 1954-68, and is now an Honorary Fellow. Subsequently he was Professor of History at King's College, London, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, before being appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, a post from which he retired in 1997.
He is a winner of the Wolfson Prize and the Balzan Prize for early modern history, and was knighted for his services to history in 1994. A winner of the Prince of Asturias Prize, he has been decorated by the Spanish government, and is a trustee of the Prado Museum.
His honorary doctorates include Cambridge, London, Brown University, and several Spanish universities, and he is an honorary fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. His most recent work, Scots and Catalans (2018) is a comparative history of Scotland and Catalonia from the Middle Ages to the end of 2017.
Source: The British Academy
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