
Making History: How Great Historians Interpret the Past
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Narrated by:
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Allen C. Guelzo
How do historians create their histories? What role do the historian's viewpoint and method play in what we accept as truth? Answer these and other questions as you go inside the minds of our greatest historians and explore the idea of written history as it has shaped humanity's story over 2,000 years.
These 24 intriguing lectures introduce you to the seminal thinking of historians such as: Herodotus, considered by many the first history writer, who replaced the poetic imagination of Homer with istorieis, or inquiry; Livy, the author of a 142-volume didactic history of Rome that spanned three continents and seven centuries; David Hume, who framed English history with an evolutionary vision of economic, political, and intellectual freedom; and Edward Gibbon, whose monumental Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire forged a complex picture of epic collapse and decay.
From the dramatic and military exploits of Xenophon and Thucydides in ancient Greece to Macaulay's dynamic career in the 19th century, from the bloody era of Christian Reformation to the revolutions of the Enlightenment, Professor Guelzo takes you into the trenches with great minds throughout history.
And beneath the surface of written history, you'll examine the processes that create accepted views of historical events, and you'll uncover the ways in which understanding how history is written is crucial to understanding historical events themselves. The journey rewards you with an unforgettable insight into our human heritage and the chance to look with discerning eyes at human events in their deeper meanings.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
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A truly fantastic exploration
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Dr. (?) Guelzo did an excellent job in presentation style. But, as the series went on, things got a little more muddled (or at least more difficult to follow along while paying casual attention) with names popping in and out. Also, I never felt satisfied if we answered the Three Questions asked in the very beginning.
I feel like I will recall this series many times throughout my life as a reminder to not be overally dogmatic nor post-modern in my study of history.
Good Foundation for Understanding History
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Using several different tones, Guelzo delivers an entertaining lecture on Historiography. He expresses the importance of studying the craft and the techniques that past historians used when they wrote history. Furthermore, he uses proper language accents and themes to describe each historian's culture and what influenced them to write history. As a historian with a Master of Arts History Degree, I find that Guelzo's Historiography lecture was far the best one that I ever heard. If you are struggling in your own Historiography class, you need to invest in this lecture. It will change your whole perspective and make it easier studying the "boring" Historical Theory of what we call Historiography.
Most Important Lecture for Future Historians
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Beyond the arc of intellectual schools and trends, Guelzo discusses how historical events and philosophical movements have shaped the writing of history, and how that writing can shape the outlook of historical figures. His last lecture, an outline of academic history's descent into "the faddish glamour of the Post-Moderns" offers hope to anyone not on board that anti-rational experiment against reality. For anyone interested in the question history strives to answer, (“How did it--a people, a civilization, a nation--get here?”) these lectures will make fascinating, stimulating, and widely instructive listening.
As in his shorter series on Lincoln, Guelzo’s highly polished delivery can (at times) verge on smugness. But the overall effect is deeply engaging and entertaining—much more so than the halting, attenuated approach of some other teachers in the Great Courses.
A History of History
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Great insightful course
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P.S. If the delivery seems too theatrical for some, please know that Guelzo is FAMOUS for his fabulous oratory, Don't allow what some perceive as "pomp" to outweigh his circumstance. The man is brilliant. Just sit back and ENJOY him. (BTW, the "wry remarks" another reviewer found irritating actually made me laugh out loud.)
Superb in every possible way.
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Best Narrator I've ever heard
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In terms of style, the only small complaint I had was that Guelzo occasionally gets a little too excited and his overheated style threatens to swamp his story. But this is truly a small complaint. Indeed, I suspect it's more my gripe than any kind of flaw. And despite this, I found this a very enjoyable listen. If you are interested in intellectual history, in the progress of ideas, then you will enjoy this a great deal.
History Evolves
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Great Read For Historians
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This one was quite interesting, as it explored history writing from pretty much ancient times to today, covering several parts of the world, currents and styles. It is more about historians than history itself, but it is a very pleasant listen.
A hostory of Historians
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