1st Edition
How History Works The Reconstitution of a Human Science
Preface. Introduction. 1. The Situation of Historical Knowledge: The Historicized World 2. The Technology of Historical Knowledge: Management-Systems 3. The Logic of Historical Knowledge: Causality, Rationality, Identity 4. The Organization of Historical Knowledge: Categorical Coordinators; Rhetorical Strategy 5. The Purpose of Historical Knowledge: Comprehension Conclusion: The Psychopathology of Historicized Life. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.
Biography
Martin L. Davies is Emeritus Reader in History at the University of Leicester. His publications include Identity or History? Marcus Herz and the End of the Enlightenment (1995), Historics: Why History Dominates Contemporary Society (Routledge, 2006) and Imprisoned by History: Aspects of Historicized Life (Routledge, 2010).
"Persuasively written and developing a challenging thesis based on the pervasiveness of historicised understanding in giving illusory meaning to our world, this book expresses a thought-experiment that needs to be experienced by all historians willing to reflect on the theoretical nature and social impact of their discipline."
Jonathan Gorman, Queen's University Belfast, UK
"Martin L. Davies’s How History Works is the sharpest barrage of arrows directed at history in a long time. Davies is especially severe in his treatment of "public history," and of "normal" history in its "public" (regime-stabilizing) function... I much admire Davies’s wit, erudition, insouciant style, and, let it be said, hard work."
Allan Megill, University of Virginia, USA
