What Is Microhistory?: Theory and Practice

by Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon, István M. Szijártó

This unique and detailed analysis provides the first accessible and comprehensive introduction to the origins, development, methodology of microhistory - one of the most significant innovations in historical scholarship to have emerged in the last few decades.

The introduction guides the reader through the best-known example of microstoria, The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo Ginzburg, and explains the benefits of studying an event, place or person in microscopic detail. In Part I, Istvan M. Szijarto examines the historiography of microhistory in the Italian, French, Germanic and the Anglo-Saxon traditions, shedding light on the roots of microhistory and asking where it is headed. In Part II, Sigurour Gylfi Magnusson uses a carefully selected case study to show the important difference between the disciplines of macro- and microhistory and to offer practical instructions for those historians wishing to undertake micro-level analysis. These parts are tied together by a Postscript in which the status of microhistory within contemporary historiography is examined and its possibilities for the future evaluated.

What is Microhistory? surveys the significant characteristics shared by large groups of microhistorians, and how these have now established an acknowledged place within any general discussion of the theory and methodology of history as an academic discipline.

Genres: History, Microhistory

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2013

Reviews

[Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely indispensable resource as I wrote my dissertation on three micro-historical analyses of poetry books from the 17th century. The book is dense but engaging, and is best read one chapter at a time to give yourself plenty of time to process, take notes, and let the messages sink in. Essential reading for all historians but especially micro-historians!

[Dimitrii Ivanov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two smaller books under one cover - a theoretical and historiographical section followed by a historiographical one with examples of applying the ideology of microhistory to own research material. Well-written, erudite and enlightening but perhaps not sufficiently clear in some of its arguments for a micromind like mine.

[Raymond Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to microhistory in general.

[Karla Kitalong · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got some new ideas for my current project, so not a waste of my time to reread it.