What do you think?
Rate this book
A Practical Guide to Studying History: Skills and Approaches
A Practical Guide to Studying History is the perfect guide for students embarking on degree-level study. The book:
- introduces students to the concepts of historical objectivity, frameworks and debate
- explains the differences in aims, methods and audiences for different types of history
- explores the relationship between the skills developed during a history undergraduate degree and the practice of professional history
- helps students develop the practical skills required to read historical writing critically, write good essays, and participate in historical debates
- includes study questions, further reading lists, text boxes, maps and illustrations
The book incorporates case studies taken from a range of regions and periods, reflecting the varied nature of historical study at university, and helps students to understand history, and to practice it successfully: it is an indispensable guide to studying history.
- introduces students to the concepts of historical objectivity, frameworks and debate
- explains the differences in aims, methods and audiences for different types of history
- explores the relationship between the skills developed during a history undergraduate degree and the practice of professional history
- helps students develop the practical skills required to read historical writing critically, write good essays, and participate in historical debates
- includes study questions, further reading lists, text boxes, maps and illustrations
The book incorporates case studies taken from a range of regions and periods, reflecting the varied nature of historical study at university, and helps students to understand history, and to practice it successfully: it is an indispensable guide to studying history.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
Published January 12, 2017
19 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 19, 2017
An excellent basic understanding of reading and writing history. I'm glad I came across the title.
December 1, 2023
This was really interesting however in the end I decided just to read the first two parts in the end cause for me doing an arts and humanities degree I didn’t really need the last bit. Useful and I can even apply some things to other subjects as well.
September 20, 2024
A very helpful little book that compiles many of the key info needed to start focused study. Particularly enjoyed Loughran's chapters!
Read
May 21, 2017"The traditional way of telling stories about the past provides an anchor which we do not always realize is there" (2).
"Historians disagree on the extent to which human beings can achieve agency within dominant discourses. This is no small problem for the discipline that exists primarily to explain change over time. Some historians who reject poststructuralism do so precisely because it seems to have no engine of change. Others use poststructuralist theories selectively while holding on to the idea that economies drive history. Many more are primarily troubled by the way in which poststructuralism seems to remove all sense of human agency, and creates worlds in which everything is swallowed by language. This latter critique is the most troubling. Discourses cannot operate unless humans speak and enact them. As [Claude] Cahun's photographs show us, individuals are able to challenge dominant discourses in certain ways. Historians need a productive way of conceptualizing human agency and its relationship to change" (107).
"Historians no longer take for granted that biological make-up, social position, or place of birth determines identity. Instead, they try to approach their sources with a more open mind, both to uncover how discourses determine identity, and how individuals and groups might use and transform these same cultural discourses to make sense of their worlds" (111).
"How can facts matter if history is all about opinion? If bias is inevitable, then how can we say that one historical interpretation is any better than another?" (139).
"Everybody has to choose a starting point. What really matters is whether the ideas that form this starting point can potentially be changed or modified through research, debate, critique and confrontation with evidence. That depends on learning how to frame a topic and a question open to such modification" (144).
"Heritage gives us a sense of belonging through the connections we make with inherited objects or cultural practices and our family or community (including religious, ethnic or national) history. Although relating to objects from the past, heritage is 'present-centred' in that its worth is shaped and reshaped by the current values and concerns of a society" (264).
"Historians disagree on the extent to which human beings can achieve agency within dominant discourses. This is no small problem for the discipline that exists primarily to explain change over time. Some historians who reject poststructuralism do so precisely because it seems to have no engine of change. Others use poststructuralist theories selectively while holding on to the idea that economies drive history. Many more are primarily troubled by the way in which poststructuralism seems to remove all sense of human agency, and creates worlds in which everything is swallowed by language. This latter critique is the most troubling. Discourses cannot operate unless humans speak and enact them. As [Claude] Cahun's photographs show us, individuals are able to challenge dominant discourses in certain ways. Historians need a productive way of conceptualizing human agency and its relationship to change" (107).
"Historians no longer take for granted that biological make-up, social position, or place of birth determines identity. Instead, they try to approach their sources with a more open mind, both to uncover how discourses determine identity, and how individuals and groups might use and transform these same cultural discourses to make sense of their worlds" (111).
"How can facts matter if history is all about opinion? If bias is inevitable, then how can we say that one historical interpretation is any better than another?" (139).
"Everybody has to choose a starting point. What really matters is whether the ideas that form this starting point can potentially be changed or modified through research, debate, critique and confrontation with evidence. That depends on learning how to frame a topic and a question open to such modification" (144).
"Heritage gives us a sense of belonging through the connections we make with inherited objects or cultural practices and our family or community (including religious, ethnic or national) history. Although relating to objects from the past, heritage is 'present-centred' in that its worth is shaped and reshaped by the current values and concerns of a society" (264).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews