What is history? (original 1961; edition 1961)

A classic, and must-read for anyone who is a student of history. And anyone who confuses political ideology for history, so speaks in intelligible-seeming gibberish having only accidental foundation, if any.

Essentially a guide explaiing "How to Read history" so one doesn't confuse popular cutlural myths and or one's own projections for objective fact and actual history, simply because one has heard them countless times thus unquestioningly assumed them true. ( )

This book probably would have been much more useful to me had I read it before I started my history degree not a good few years after it. Nevertheless this book contains some essays about what is history from a historian's point of view however I found it quite hard going at times. ( )

Edward Hallett Carr’s What is History? is still a remarkable work of historiography fifty years after it was written. Originally written as a series of lectures at Cambridge University in 1961 the book has aged very well. Carr begins by explaining what makes a fact historical rather than just a fact and goes on to explain a few other truths about historical facts. No fact is pure, even the original recording of the fact is tainted by the prejudice of the recorder. Facts need to be understood through the eyes of the tine they were created, historians need to imagine an understanding of the times. The present will always color our view of past facts.
After revealing that facts are not the vestal virgins that they are sometimes painted as being Carr moves on to a brilliant explanation of causality and objectivity that has been quoted by other historians for good reason. It is the clearest and most well reasoned explanation of those concepts I have read.
The last chapter of the book, the final lecture in the series, is titled “The Widening Horizon” and today can be read several ways. Was Carr, a British student of Russian history, lamenting the United Kingdom’s diminishing roll as a leading influence on history? Was he predicting, something he warned against, the rise of his primary object of study to the forefront of history? Did he actually see the Far East assuming the role we see it in today? ( )

What is History? by E H Carr is a collection of a series of lectures he gave in the 60s about history and historiography. I took a class called History and Theory a few years ago and we looked at some of Carr's work regarding the English working class. He struck me as an interesting and thoughtful historian who could be both academic and readable at the same time (a rare achievement!) so when I saw this slim volume on the history table at the bookfair I just had to pick it up. Also, for me, one of the greatest advertisements for his book was that Keith Windschuttle hates it (if you haven't been following the Australian History Wars then you probably won't know who that is...needless to say, I'm not a fan!)

The book was fascinating. Carr looks at the theory and philosophy of history with a very post-modern view and has a number of interesting critiques around historical 'objectivity' and the influence of contemporary society on how we read and write history. Carr's Marxist influences are clearly on display through much of the book, with his focus on social and economic history and his critique of earlier historical focus on political and constitutional history.

Regardless of what you think of Carr's personal politics and philosophy, it can't be denied that he is a great writer, with a good understanding of structure and how to engage a reader/listener. I found his lectures to be diverse, interesting, well thought out and logical...even when I didn't agree with him.

This is a philosophical look at history and historians. The book is based on a series of lectures, so it has an easy to read style.

Mr. Carr raises some interesting points about objectivity in historical writings, the nature of facts vs. truth and the links between the past and the future. ( )