WHAT IS HISTORY?: THE GEORGE MACAULAY TREVELYAN LECTURES DELIVERED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE JANUARY-MARCH 1961

Book ID/图书代码： 03540004B08164

English Summary/英文概要： ’SIMPLY TO SHOW HOW IT REALLY WAS’

Ranke, stating what he considered the proper aim of the historian, filled generations of historians after him with a burning zeal for objectivity.

But who is to say how things were? In formulating a modern answer to the question ’What is History?’ Professor Carr shows that the ’facts’ of history are simply those which historians have selected for scrutiny. Millions have crossed the Rubicon, but the historians tell us that only Caesar’s crossing was significant. All historical facts come to us as a result of interpretative choices by historians influenced by the standards of their age.

Yet if absolute objectivity is impossible, the role of the historian need in no way suffer; nor does history lose its fascination. This posthumous edition includes new material by R.W. Davies which presents the major conclusions of Professor Carr’s notes for the second edition and a new preface by the author, in which he reflects on the current mood of pessimism and despair among Western intellectuals and calls for a saner and more balanced outlook on the future’.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 当我在1960年完成《历史是什么?》六讲的初次手稿时，西方世界仍旧没有摆脱两场世界大战和两次主要革命——苏联人、中国人的革命所带来的打击。维多利亚时代天真的自信和对进步观念的机械信仰已远远落后了。这个世界已经是一个混乱的世界，甚至是有威胁的世界。不过，已经不断出现的迹象表明我们正在逐渐走出这些混乱。一般认为作为战争后果之一的世界性经济危机并没有发生。我们平静地解散了大英帝国，几乎没有特别关注此事。匈牙利危机和苏伊士危机已经解决或者说已经被人遗忘了。(JD)

Awards/获奖情况：编辑推荐
该书是英国著名史学家卡尔的一部享誉世界的历史理论名著，作者在书中对“历史”从各个侧面进行了剖析，广征博引，提纲挈领，提出了“历史就是与现实不断的对话”的著名命题。

’E.H. Carr...now proves himself to be not only our most distinguished modern historian, but also one of the most valuable contributors to historical theory.’---Spectator

’As a lively, challenging view of the purpose of historical inquiry and the role of the historian...What is History? has yet to be bettered.’---David Horspool, Times Literary Supplement

’There is simply no point in talking about the principles and methodology of historical research without referring to E.H. Carr’s seminal work.’---Elliot Jager, The Jerusalem Post

’By situating Carr’s book historically so well, Evans...[has] provided the strongest argument yet for leaving What is History? on the shelf as a theory-of-history primer for undergraduates and for its alternative use as valuable primary evidence for the history of intellectual politics in mid-20th century Britain.’---Simon Ditchfield, Times Higher Education Supplement

’Carr’s What is History? is still essential reading for all historians. The new edition introduced by Professor Evans, a leading historian and an accomplished historiographer, provides an excellent insight into Carr’s life and work.’---Jonathan Haslam, author of The Vices of Integrity: E. H. Carr (1892-1982)

About the Author/作者介绍： Edward Hallett "Ted" Carr CBE (28 June 1892 – 3 November 1982) was a liberal realist and later left-wing[1] British historian, journalist and international relations theorist, and an opponent of empiricism within historiography.
Carr was best known for his 14-volume history of the Soviet Union, in which he provided an account of Soviet history from 1917 to 1929, for his writings on international relations, and for his book What Is History?, in which he laid out historiographical principles rejecting traditional historical methods and practices.
Educated at Cambridge, Carr began his career as a diplomat in 1916. Becoming increasingly preoccupied with the study of international relations and of the Soviet Union, he resigned from the Foreign Office in 1936 to begin an academic career. From 1941 to 1946, Carr worked as an assistant editor at The Times, where he was noted for his leaders (editorials) urging a socialist system and an Anglo-Soviet alliance as the basis of a post-war order. Afterwards, Carr worked on a massive 14-volume work on Soviet history entitled A History of Soviet Russia, a project that he was still engaged on at the time of his death in 1982. In 1961, he delivered the G. M. Trevelyan lectures at the University of Cambridge that became the basis of his book, What is History? Moving increasingly towards the left throughout his career, Carr saw his role as the theorist who would work out the basis of a new international order.

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Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：SOLD

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