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
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Deep Thought
- 42 Fantastic Quotes That Define Philosphy
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- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
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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
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The History of Philosophy
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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
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The Landscape of History
- How Historians Map the Past
- By: John Lewis Gaddis
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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!
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Between Past and Future
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- By: Hannah Arendt
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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
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What Are We Doing Here?
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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.
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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
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- By: James Q. Whitman
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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
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On Anarchism
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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
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Why Trust Science?
- The University Center for Human Values, Book 1
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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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An Excellent Read
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Hitler
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From the author of Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939 comes a riveting account of the dictator's final years, when he got the war he wanted but his leadership led to catastrophe for his nation, the world, and himself. Volker Ullrich offers fascinating new insight into Hitler's character and personality, vividly portraying the insecurity, obsession with minutiae, and narcissistic penchant for gambling that led Hitler to overrule his subordinates and then blame them for his failures.
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Had to return because of narration
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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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