It's ironic that structuralism -- the study of the ahistorical, or "synchronic," structures that supposedly underpin language, kinship systems, and other social phenomena -- enjoyed such a short history. Dosse's book shows how structuralism is a product of so many distinct personalities and events -- the very things that structuralism tends to suppress in the name of antihumanism and a static conception of history. Fortunately, Dosse manages to resist the temptation to commit the genetic fallacy. Still, I can't help but think that even the title, dry as it is, is meant to be taken as a tongue-in-cheek jab at structuralism -- the historian's revenge against an anthistoricist movement.