The rationalist historians of the Enlightenment substituted for this a mode of historical explanation which rested on human forces, but they still thought of their work as a species of moral illustration. Things happened, ultimately, because God willed them to happen human history was the playground of supernatural forces of Good and Evil. In medieval and early modern times, many historians saw their function as chronicling the working-out of God’s purposes in the world.
However much they might have agreed on the need for accuracy and truthfulness, historians down the ages have held widely differing views on the purposes to which these things were to be put, and the way in which the facts they presented were to be explained. Elton's The Practice of History, Evans' In Defense of History delivers "a model of lucid and intelligent historiographical analysis" ( The Guardian, UK). He then goes on to explain the deadly political dangers of losing a historical perspective on the way we live our lives. In staunch opposition to the wilder claims of postmodern historians, Evans thoroughly dismantles the notion that a realistic grasp of history is impossible to attain. Taking us into the historians' workshop, he offers a firsthand look at how good history gets written. At a time when fact and historical truth are under unprecedented assault, Evans shows us why history is necessary.
Evans offers a fervent and deeply insightful defense of his craft and its importance to civilization. In this volume, the renowned historian Richard J. "A lucid, muscular, and often sly reflection" on the worth and purpose of historical scholarship by the award-winning author of The Third Reich Trilogy ( Kirkus ).
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