In Defense of History
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Narrated by:
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Julian Elfer
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By:
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Richard J. Evans
About this listen
In his compact, brilliant, and compulsively listenable account, Richard J. Evans shows us how historians manage to extract meaning from the recalcitrant past.
To materials that are frustratingly meager, or overwhelmingly profuse, they bring an array of tools that range from agreed-upon rules of documentation to the critical application of social and economic theory, all employed with the aim of reconstructing a verifiable, usable past.
Evans defends this commitment to historical knowledge from the attacks of postmodernist critics who deny the possibility of achieving any kind of certain knowledge about the past.
©1997 Richard J. Evans (P)2018 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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each book is better than the first. your writing is genius
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each book is better than the first. your writing is genius
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Overall
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Performance
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We're lucky to have this on audio
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In The Dream of Enlightenment, Anthony Gottlieb expertly navigates a second great explosion of thought, taking us to northern Europe in the wake of its wars of religion and the rise of Galilean science. In a relatively short period - from the early 1640s to the eve of the French Revolution - Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, and Hume all made their mark. The Dream of Enlightenment tells their story and that of the birth of modern philosophy.
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Enlightenment meets Neuroscience
- By Rodger on 12-05-19
By: Anthony Gottlieb
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Deep Thought
- 42 Fantastic Quotes That Define Philosphy
- By: Gary Cox
- Narrated by: Richard Mitchley
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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As Douglas Adams points out, if there is no final answer to the question "what is the meaning of life?" 42 is as good or bad an answer as any other. Indeed, 42 quotes might be even better! Gary Cox guides us through 42 of the most misunderstood, misquoted, provocative, and significant quotes in the history of philosophy, providing witty and compelling commentary along the way.
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Best philosophy intro ever
- By Fabian on 04-14-18
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The History of Philosophy
- By: A. C. Grayling
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
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The story of philosophy is an epic tale, spanning civilizations and continents. It explores some of the most creative minds in history. But not since the long-popular classic by Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy, published in 1945, has there been a comprehensive and entertaining single-volume history of this great, intellectual, world-shaping journey.
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A much needed update to Bertrand Russell's classic
- By Michael on 06-27-20
By: A. C. Grayling
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The Landscape of History
- How Historians Map the Past
- By: John Lewis Gaddis
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
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What is history, and why should we study it? Is there such a thing as historical truth? Is history a science? One of the most accomplished historians at work today, John Lewis Gaddis, answers these and other questions in this short, witty, and humane book. The Landscape of History provides a searching look at the historian's craft as well as a strong argument for why a historical consciousness should matter to us today.
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Excellent Book!
- By Billy on 09-15-18
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Between Past and Future
- Eight Exercises in Political Thought
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
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Hannah Arendt's insightful observations of the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, constitute an impassioned contribution to political philosophy. In Between Past and Future, Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory. Through a series of eight exercises, she shows how we can redistill the vital essence of these concepts and use them to regain a frame of reference for the future.
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Just stunning
- By Peter Stephens on 02-26-18
By: Hannah Arendt
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What Are We Doing Here?
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
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Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Alexis de Tocqueville, inform our political consciousness or discussing how beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson's peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display.
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Unpersuasive and a bit repetitive
- By Adam Shields on 03-07-18
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How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization
- By: Thomas E. Woods Jr.
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 7 hrs
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Western civilization has given us modern science, the wealth of free-market economics, the security of law, a sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, splendid art and music, philosophy grounded in reason, and innumerable other gifts we take for granted.
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Fascinating and informative
- By Michael Kellogg on 09-29-05
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Hitler's American Model
- The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law
- By: James Q. Whitman
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
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Nazism triumphed in Germany during the high era of Jim Crow laws in the United States. Did the American regime of racial oppression in any way inspire the Nazis? The unsettling answer is yes. James Whitman presents a detailed investigation of the American impact on the notorious Nuremberg Laws, the centerpiece anti-Jewish legislation of the Nazi regime.
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Did not we suspect this?
- By dessa on 11-04-18
By: James Q. Whitman
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On Anarchism
- By: Noam Chomsky, Nathan Schneider - introduction
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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On Anarchism provides the reasoning behind Noam Chomsky's fearless lifelong questioning of the legitimacy of entrenched power. In these essays, Chomsky redeems one of the most maligned ideologies, anarchism, and places it at the foundation of his political thinking. Chomsky's anarchism is distinctly optimistic and egalitarian. Moreover, it is a living, evolving tradition that is situated in a historical lineage; Chomsky's anarchism emphasizes the power of collective, rather than individualist, action.
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Hit and Miss
- By Jacob King on 06-18-14
By: Noam Chomsky, and others
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Why Trust Science?
- The University Center for Human Values, Book 1
- By: Naomi Oreskes
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- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
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Do doctors really know what they are talking about when they tell us vaccines are safe? Should we take climate experts at their word when they warn us about the perils of global warming? Why should we trust science when our own politicians don't? In this landmark book, Naomi Oreskes offers a bold and compelling defense of science, revealing why the social character of scientific knowledge is its greatest strength - and the greatest reason we can trust it.
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Perfect Production of an Excellent Work
- By Andrew Mazibrada on 01-15-20
By: Naomi Oreskes
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Compelling and depressing
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Masterful
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Hitler's People
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Excellent presentation.
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each book is better than the first. your writing is genius
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Masterful
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Excellent presentation.
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Engrossing yet horrifying
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Hitler's True Believers
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Understanding Adolf Hitler's ideology provides insights into the mental world of an extremist politics that, over the course of the Third Reich, developed explosive energies culminating in the Second World War and the Holocaust. Too often the theories underlying National Socialism or Nazism are dismissed as an irrational hodgepodge of ideas. Yet that ideology drove Hitler's quest for power in 1933, colored everything in the Third Reich, and transformed him, however briefly, into the most powerful leader in the world.
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Eight Days in May
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On April 30, 1945, in a bunker deep beneath the Old Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler and his newly wedded wife, Eva Braun, killed themselves. But Nazi Germany lived on, however briefly. The subsequent eight days were among the most turbulent in history, witnessing not only the final battles of World War II and the collapse of the Wehrmacht, but the near-total disintegration of the once-mighty Third Reich.
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Fueled by hate, incapable of forming normal human relationships, unwilling to listen to dissenting voices, Adolf Hitler seemed an unlikely leader, and yet he commanded enormous support and was able to exert a powerful influence over those who encountered him. How did Hitler become such an attractive figure to millions of people? That is the question at the core of Hitler's Charisma. Acclaimed historian and documentary filmmaker Laurence Rees examines the nature of Hitler's appeal and reveals the role his supposed "charisma" played in his success.
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Fantastic
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End of a Berlin Diary
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A radio broadcaster and journalist for Edward R. Murrow at CBS, William L. Shirer was new to the world of broadcast journalism when he began keeping a diary while on assignment in Europe during the 1930s. Shirer’s Berlin Diary, which is considered the first full record of what was happening in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich, appeared in 1941. Shirer returned to the European front in 1944 to cover the end of the war. End of a Berlin Diary chronicles this year-long study of Germany after Hitler.
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Mr Shrier might is an excellent Historian but pass
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Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler
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In Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler, acclaimed historian Robert Gellately focuses on the dominant powers of the time, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but also analyzes the catastrophe of those years in an effort to uncover its political and ideological nature.
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Incredible research as important now as then
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Hitler's American Model
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Nazism triumphed in Germany during the high era of Jim Crow laws in the United States. Did the American regime of racial oppression in any way inspire the Nazis? The unsettling answer is yes. James Whitman presents a detailed investigation of the American impact on the notorious Nuremberg Laws, the centerpiece anti-Jewish legislation of the Nazi regime.
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Did not we suspect this?
- By dessa on 11-04-18
By: James Q. Whitman
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Undeniable
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Overall
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Performance
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Throughout his distinguished and unconventional career, engineer-turned-molecular-biologist Douglas Axe has been asking the questions that much of the scientific community would rather silence. Now, he presents his conclusions in this brave and pioneering book. Axe argues that the key to understanding our origin is the "design intuition" - the innate belief held by all humans that tasks we would need knowledge to accomplish can be accomplished only by someone who has that knowledge.
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Seductively Challenge what are consider facts
- By Rafael Vila on 10-08-16
By: Douglas Axe
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Army of Evil
- A History of the SS
- By: Adrian Weale
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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In Nazi Germany, they were called the Schutzstaffel. The world would know them as the dreaded SS - the most loyal and ruthless enforcers of the Third Reich...It began as a small squad of political thugs. Yet by the end of 1935, the SS had taken control of all police and internal security duties in Germany - ranging from local village "gendarmes" all they way up to the secret political police and the Gestapo.
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Got lost in the details.
- By Alan on 11-28-12
By: Adrian Weale
What listeners say about In Defense of History
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- philip
- 04-10-24
A Bible for Historians.
Richard Evan’s is one of the greats among contemporary historians (see his 3 volume definitive history of the Third Reich). As a historian myself, I turn to this book for wisdom and inspiration. Those who live history might also be interested in how historians think and do their jobs, and the controversies of different schools of thought of why history is. Highly recommended for anybody seriously into history.
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- jgmegill
- 08-10-18
A wonderful defense of the historians craft
Richard J. Evans is a well regarded and prolific historian who has written extensively on European history and The Third Reich. He also enjoys a well deserved reputation as a fascinating and erudite speaker, lecturer and expert witness see the film Malice. This volume is Evans response to the need for something to update E.H. Carr's classic "What is History" and G. R. Elton's "The Practice of History" both excellent but now dated. Evans outlines how historians work and how they differ from chroniclers, antiquarians and journalist. Evans also give some guidance to budding historians as to how he himself organized his research and construct's his narrative specifically using his "Death in Hamburg " as a example. This was his study of the great Hamburg cholera outbreak which killed over 10,00o Germans in the 1890's
Evans is an excellent writer with many bestsellers he firmly believes historians should write with in clear prose and is highly critical post modernism and some other new trends. His account of the "Sokal Hoax" and the "David Abraham affair " are both fun reading and an object lesson to all future graduate students. In summary one of the best books I have read this year.
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- steven
- 08-29-24
I am a student of History
It is basically a text book. if u don't like this it will be slow.
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- Christian Radcliff
- 03-28-20
Background to History Degree
As some one who has encountered a slew of postmodern history and critical geography coursework this book has helped me identify a stark contrast between two teaching methods and their merits. I believe history is not about power and narrative alone and will do my best to be an objective historian.
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3 people found this helpful
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- David A
- 07-03-18
Enlightening
I have had no formal training in the field of writing History but I enjoy reading History. I am in awe of Evans after reading his Trilogy on the Third Reich. From my armchair I have observed some Historians can write about topics I had little or no interest before starting and keep me up all night, while others, even when writing on my favorite topics can put me to sleep in a page or two. Evans’ keeps me up all night. This book is the perfect example. A book on writing history - boring right? Nope, even this book was a page turner. I was surprised to find that historians are in crisis (or at least some are). Like Fake or Blatantly Biased News is destroying Journalistic integrity, Fake History or Blatantly Biased History is an equally big problem. I though for an Academic Historian - objectivity, attention to detail, and a gift for writing, even if limited, were prerequisites. A History book should stand up to fact checking and peer review and have a talented editor. Just the basics. Every “Professional” should have certain training and guidelines. For example your family Doctor - You should expect at a minimum that they have gone to Medical School, Residency, and completed a Board Exam. Yes it is reasonable to expect they passed all of them. Your would expect your Doctors colleagues and the relevant State and Federal licensing Organizations to approve of your Doctors practices. It’s no shock to find out some Historians plagiarize, outright lie, are incompetent, lazy, boring, or even crazy. Not all Doctors are perfect so you would expect not all Historians to be perfect either. Still there are minimal standards. Recently like Evans points out I have noticed some really bad History Books. Books that seem to lack any attempt at objectivity. It is probably impossible to be totally objective when it comes to History. Everyone knows that. Regardless the Historian is supposed to try - right? Apparently not. In a few books author’s have actually stated in the introduction that they have an agenda and anything you’ve ever read before that, if it goes against their agenda is a lie, a coverup, a conspiracy. I appreciate that kind of honesty since that alerts me that the book is more opinion piece than History and I need not waste time on it. I assumed these occasional books were written by self publishing fringe dwellers and destined for the bargain rack on eBay. Apparently the problem is bigger than a few outliers. The problem is big enough to have a major Historian of Evans stature write an entire book about it. In a culture where most of us learn History from Hollywood - be it John Wayne or Oliver Stone, it’s hard for us amateurs to know fact from propoganda. Evans gives us some of the major issues and examples in a book that is quite entertaining and enlightening. I would love to hear what some of the “Historians” he calls out have to say. What are we supposed to think when Academics state - paraphrased - “The Holocaust never happened and if it did we can’t really know i did?” How can any reasonable person, never mind an academic encourage this kind of absurdity? Evans is much kinder to the Post Modernist Historians than I would be. On the surface Post Modernist’s appear to offer nothing but contrariness. It’s refreshing when someone thinks outside the box but Post Modernist’s don’t believe there is a box to think outside of. I have to admit maybe I just don’t understand Post Modernism when it comes to History. Apparently neither does Evans so I’m not going to worry to much about it.
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- David Erdody
- 10-15-24
Word Nazi
All of Richard Evans books mispronounce nazism. its Natz-ism. Not Natzi-ism. This is very embarrassing for an audio book narrator for such an author
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