Brief History of History: Great Historians And The Epic Quest To Explain The Past - Tapa dura

What Daniel Boorstin did for science in The Discoverers, Timothy Ferris for cosmology in Coming of Age in the Milky Way, and Robert Heilbroner for economics in The Worldly Philosophers, Colin Wells now does for history in A Brief History of History. The most accessible, concise, and clear-sighted biography ever of history as a living idea, this book brings together evocative sketches of the great historians with concise summaries of their key works. From its humble origins as a minor literary genre in ancient Greece, to its modern-day status as perhaps the most successful monument to the global spread of Western civilization, Wells traces the remarkable evolution of this branch of knowledge, and shows how it has long been the turf on which we fight our culture wars. A riveting blend of readability, vibrant humor, and penetrating insight, A Brief History of History is a must for anyone for whom living in the present, and looking to the future, is unimaginable without serious reflection on the past.

THE REMARKABLE EVOLUTION OF HISTORY THROUGH THE AGES What began as a minor literary genre in ancient Greece stands today as perhaps the most successful monument to the global spread of Western civilization, rivaling even science in its ubiquity. Yet it did not have to turn out that way. In A Brief History of History, the most accessible and lively biography ever of history as a living idea, Colin Wells moves forward through the ages to show how the great historians and their works have changed our understanding of history, and why ?history” is a startingly fluid concept, with an evolutionary course?a story?all its own. An Excerpt from A BRIEF HISTORY OF HISTORY
Here’s a question: What if Thucydides had written smut? In the LatinWest, writers like Gregory and Bede may have abandoned secular history, but on its home turf in the Greek East, the tradition of
Herodotus and Thucydides proved more, shall we say, robust . . .|THE REMARKABLE EVOLUTION OF HISTORY THROUGH THE AGESWhat began as a minor literary genre in ancient Greece stands today as perhaps the most successful monument to the global spread of Western civilization, rivaling even science in its ubiquity. Yet it did not have to turn out that way. InA Brief History of History, the most accessible and lively biography ever of history as a living idea, Colin Wells moves forward through the ages to show how the great historians and their works have changed our understanding of history, and why “history” is a startingly fluid concept, with an evolutionary course—a story—all its own.An Excerpt from A BRIEF HISTORY OF HISTORY
Here’s a question: What if Thucydides had written smut? In the LatinWest, writers like Gregory and Bede may have abandoned secular history, but on its home turf in the Greek East, the tradition of
Herodotus and Thucydides proved more, shall we say, robust . . .