Edmund Hallet Carr's "What is History?"

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews the work "What is History", by Edmund Hallet Carr. It looks at how the work redefines the way historical facts are understood and the importance of context in the interpretation of historical facts. It looks at the importance of a historian having an awareness of the time-frame a historical work was written in, the objectives of the writer at that time and his/her own society-based biases. The paper then brings in Cronon's "A place for stories: nature, history, and narrative" and Linda Alcoff's "The problem of speaking for others", as examples of how Carr's ideas have been used by other historians writing on the meaning of history.

From the Paper:

"Edmund Hallet Carr's book, What is History?, was first published in 1961 and had a major impact on the understanding of history. Reading this book over 40 years later, it still has the same impact, creating a change in the way history is viewed and understood. The lasting impact of Carr's concepts can also be seen by the way they are still applicable to modern ideas on the meaning and purpose of history."

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