On What is History?' provides a student introduction to contemporary historiographical debates.
Carr and Elton are still the starting point for the vast majority of introductory courses on the nature of history. Building on his highly successful Rethinking History, Keith Jenkins explores in greater detail the influence of these key figures. He argues that historians need to move beyond their modernist' thinking and embrace the postmodern-type approaches of thinkers such as Richard Rorty and Hayden White.
Through its radical critique of Carr and Elton and its...

On What is History?' provides a student introduction to contemporary historiographical debates.
Carr and Elton are still the starting point for the vast majority of introductory courses on the nature of history. Building on his highly successful Rethinking History, Keith Jenkins explores in greater detail the influence of these key figures. He argues that historians need to move beyond their modernist' thinking and embrace the postmodern-type approaches of thinkers such as Richard Rorty and Hayden White.
Through its radical critique of Carr and Elton and its...

The Postmodern History Reader is the most comprehensive collection of influential texts on historiography and postmodernism yet compiled. Keith Jenkins expertly selects from the books and journal articles across the whole historiographical range that have been key to the transforming debates.

This unique reader is a clear introduction to the impact of postmodernism on historical debate, allowing easy access to one of the more stimulating and exciting areas of current history. It provides:

* extracts from influential historians, such as Barthes, Joyce, White,...

"Why History?" is a compelling introduction to the issue of history and ethics. Designed to provoke discussion, the book asks whether and why a good knowledge and understanding of the past is desirable. In the context of current postmodern thinking, Keith Jenkins suggests that the goal of "learning lessons from the past" actually means learning lessons from stories written by historians and others. If the past as history has no foundation, can anything ethical be gained from history?
Daring and controversial, "Why History?" presents liberating challenges to history and ethics, proposing...

Why History is an introduction to the issue of history and ethics. Designed to provoke discussion, the book asks whether a good knowledge and understanding of the past is a good thing to have and if so, why. In the context of postmodern times, Why History suggests that the goal of 'learning lessons from the past' is actually learning lessons from stories written by historians and others. If the past as history has no foundation, can anything ethical be gained from history?
Why History presents liberating challenges to history and ethics, proposing that we have...

The question of what the nature of history is, is now a key issue for all students of history. It is now recognised by many that the past and history are different phenomena and that the way the past is actively historicised can be highly problematic and contested. Older metaphysical, ontological, epistemological, methodological and ethical assumptions can no longer be taken as read. In this timely collection, key pieces of writing by leading historians are reproduced and evaluated, with an explanation and critique of their character and assumptions, and how they reflect upon the nature of...

The question of what the nature of history is, is now a key issue for all students of history. It is now recognised by many that the past and history are different phenomena and that the way the past is actively historicised can be highly problematic and contested. Older metaphysical, ontological, epistemological, methodological and ethical assumptions can no longer be taken as read. In this timely collection, key pieces of writing by leading historians are reproduced and evaluated, with an explanation and critique of their character and assumptions, and how they reflect upon the nature of...

In this engaging sequel to Rethinking History, Keith Jenkins argues for a re-figuration of historical study. At the core of his survey lies the realization that objective and disinterested histories as well as historical 'truth' are unachievable. The past and questions about the nature of history remain interminably open to new and disobedient approaches.
Jenkins reassesses conventional history in a bold fashion. His committed and radical study presents new ways of 'thinking history', a new methodology and philosophy and their impact on historical practice.

This volume...

In this sequel to Rethinking History, Keith Jenkins argues for a re-figuration of historical study. At the core of his survey lies the realization that objective and disinterested histories as well as historical 'truth' are unachievable. The past and questions about the nature of history remain interminably open to new and disobedient approaches. Jenkins reassesses conventional history in a bold fashion. His study presents new ways of thinking history, a methodology and philosophy and their impact on historical practice. This volume is written for students and teachers of history.

Since the inception of their discipline, anthropologists have studied virtually every conceivable aspect of other peoples' morality - religion, social control, sin, virtue, evil, duty, purity and pollution. Showing how the topic of ethics goes to the heart of anthropology, it raises the controversial question of why - and for whom - the anthropological discipline functions.