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History, Historians, and the Dynamics of Change
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William A. Green
Book Code: B3902
ISBN: 0-275-93902-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-93902-1
272 pages, figures
Praeger Paperback
Publication: 2/28/1993
List Price: $39.95 (UK Sterling Price: £22.95)
Availability: Print on demand
Media Type: Paperback
Also Available: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Reviews:
  • Readers will profit from Green's persuasive, commonsense approach and his straightforward summations of these ideas and their applications. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty.
    —Choice, October 1993
Description: Green offers a remarkably lucid, erudite, and insightful description and analysis of the theoretical foundations of historical writing. He describes--and is the first to do so in an ordered approach--the systematic models by which leading historians have attempted to explain change and continuity. In the process, Green gives students and historians a cogent survey of current models essential to to an understanding of modern historiography. The three parts of the book introduce history as a theoretical discipline but one in which "truth" is elusive. "Periodization," or the manner in which time is divided to make the past manageable, is addressed. The second and third parts of the book are concerned with the dynamics of change. Each of the chapters considers a theoretical model including: Adam Smith's commercial model, Malthus' demographic model, Marx's model, and the approaches of Weber and Sombart which identify religious forces as driving historical change. Part Two focuses on European history and Part Three addresses in a universal context. The conclusion both summarizes the impacts and weighs the relevance of the theorists. It assesses, too, the value of the "periodization" system. Truly an essential volume for the student or reader of history.
Table of Contents:
  • History and the Historian
  • History: The Elusive Quarry
  • The Framework of History
  • The Dyamics of Historical Change: Europe
  • Introduction: Search for a Governing Dynamic
  • The Commercial Model
  • The Demographic Model
  • The Marxian Dynamic
  • Weber, Sombart, and the Spirit of Capitalism
  • The Dynamics of Historical Change: World History
  • Introduction: The Global Perspective
  • World-System Analysis
  • Environmental History
  • ummation The Continuing Pursuit of Order
  • Bibliography
LC Card Number: 92-26023
LCC Class: D16
Dewey Class: 902
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