The Craft of International History: A Guide to Method

by Marc Trachtenberg

Book by Marc Trachtenberg

Genres: History, Politics

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2005

About the author

Marc Trachtenberg is currently a Political Science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Luke]

truly masochistic

page 89 has a footnote that I couldn't believe, which takes up at least 75% of the page

Chapters 1-2 were interesting somewhat
Rest of chapters were before Google and AI to search for info.

summary of remaining chapters is just "think about other historians arguments and assertions and verify if they were really true to do your own historical study of documents. Start with a question to ask and investigate it." There is no need to read all of that

TLDR:

"So history is important for the theorist, and theory is important for the historian. To sort out a particular problem, the historian has to do a lot of thinking, and the theoretical literature can provide a certain degree of support. And it’s little short of amazing how much the theorist can learn by studying the historical issues the way they need to be studied—by going into them in some depth and by analyzing historical claims in terms both of their internal logic and of the adequacy of the evidence that supports them."

[Liquidlasagna]

The Mild Ama-Tome

Wish I Had This Book When I Was in College!

This is one out of two of the most useful how-to books I have come across, the other being How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler.

The chapter on 1941 is excellent and illustrates the process of a history project from start to finish. The appendices are also extremely valuable because they help you find source materials for various historical projects.

There is something everyone can gain from reading this book carefully.

Dynamicdrew

[Mark Uberuaga]

The Craft of International History teaches readers how to conduct historical research. In this book, Marc Trachtenberg promotes the revisionist brand of history and distills the craft of research using a plethora of examples and practical exercises. He describes the method of critical analysis and relates it directly to case studies of popular historical events.

Trachtenberg directs budding researchers to first identify the most important works in the selected field, then analyze that body of work and identify the core arguments and how they are supported.

In addition to the instruction on research, Trachtenberg addresses theories of historical inquiry, critiquing the relative constructivist approach of some historians in the 1960s.

Trachtenberg challenges the reader to conduct thorough research in order to empower oneself with the ability to draw one’s own conclusions about historical issues.

[Mark Jacobsen]

Marc Trachtenberg, who has solid credentials as both a historian and political scientist, wrote this book to show the value in bringing the two disciplines together. The book is especially intended for aspiring political scientists who are intimidated by the prospect of doing history. Trachtenberg argues fear is unwarranted; political scientists can gain an adequate grasp of history for their purposes, in a relatively short amount of time, by deliberate and systematic engagement with secondary sources. The book unpacks his method, using a running sample project to illustrate. For a student who is new to serious historical research (like me), the book is an excellent primer.

[Noelle]

A very useful intro to research. A great book to read as an advanced undergraduate or early grad student before starting a project. If you're looking for practical advice, skip the first chapter on theory.

[Rachel]

Interesting for political scientists/historians like me.