History, Historians, and the Dynamics of Change

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By William A. Green

ISBN: 0-275-93901-4

ISBN-13: 978-0-275-93901-4

DOI:

272 pages, figures

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 2/28/1993

List Price: $103.95 (UK Sterling Price: £59.95)

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Media Type: Hardcover

Also Available: Paperback

Subjects:

History » Historiography

Description: Green offers a remarkably lucid, erudite, and insightful description and analysis of the theoretical foundations of modern historical writing. He is the first to provide an orderly introduction to the several systematic models by which leading modern historians have attempted to explain continuity and change. This cogent survey is essential to an understanding of modern Western historiography. The book introduces history as a theoretical discipline. Green examines the many pitfalls of historical writing and demonstrates that historical "truth" is a most elusive quarry. He addresses periodization, the manner in which past time is divided, showing how prevailing modes of periodization have evolved in the West. Part two of the book is concerned with the dynamics of change in European history. Each chapter considers a specific theoretical orientation, including: the commercial model initiated by Adam Smith and pursued by Henri Pirenne and others, the demographic model first formulated by Malthus, the Marxian model (or models), and the approaches of Weber and Sombart who identified religious forces as the chief engines of historical change. Part three addresses models of change being employed in world history, particularly the world-system approach of Frank and Wallerstein and the creative orientations of environmental historians. In his conclusion, Green returns to the question of whether the theoretical models of change currently in use among historians are consistent with contemporary modes of periodization. The bibliography is extensive.

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
Summation: The Continuing Pursuit of Order
Bibliography

LC Card Number: 92-26023

LCC Class: D16

Dewey Class: 902


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