Deconstructing History / Edition 2

by Alun Munslow

Overview

Surveying the latest research, this welcome second edition of Alun Munslow’s successful Deconstructing History provides an excellent introduction to the debates and issues of postmodernist history.

This new edition has been updated and revised and, along with the original discussion material and topics, now:

• assesses the claims of history as a form of ‘truthful’ explanation
• discusses the limits of conventional historical thinking and practice, and the responses of the ‘new empiricists’ to the book’s central arguments
• examines the arrival of ‘experimental history’ and its implications
• clarifies the utility of addressing Michael Foucault and Hayden White, and strengthens the analysis of Frank R. Ankersmit’s recent work.

Along with an updated glossary, and a revised bibliography, this second edition will not only live up to its predecessor’s reputation, but will surpass it as the most essential student resource for studying history and its practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415391443
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/17/2006
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alun Munslow is principal lecturer in History, University of Staffordshire and editor of Rethinking History .

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. The Past in a Changing Present 3. History as Reconstruction/Construction 4. History as Deconstruction 5. What is Wrong with Deconstructionist History? 6. What is Wrong with Reconstructionist/Constructionist History? 7. Michel Foucault and History 8. Hayden White and Deconstructionist History 9. Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

Questioning whether history, as a discipline, can accurately recover and represent the content of the past through the form of the narrative, Munslow draws on the work of postmodern theorists to explore such questions as whether empiricism legitimately constitutes history as a separate epistemology; the character of historical evidence and its function; the role of the historian, his or her use of social theory, and the construction of explanatory frameworks in historical understanding; and the significance to historical explanation of narrative form. Paper edition (unseen), $24.99. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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