In Defense of History

Author: Bloch
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: As a craftsman who diligently prunes the branches of history—this is how he defined himself—Bloch, a master of the Annales School, was more aware than many that since ancient Greece, history has carried the mission of narrating the truth of events as they happen. Truth (whether it exists or not) is the highest value of history. Bloch begins with the innocent question of his youngest son ("Dad, what's the use of history?") and makes a passionate defense of the noble value of history, meticulously analyzing the intricate relationships between history, humanity, and time, and proposing methodologies for historical research and verification. The book lacks a daunting theoretical system; instead, it offers gentle insights into the practice of history. This small book is called the "manifesto of Annales School historiography," and the overall historical thought and long-term theory of the Annales School that later generations developed can all be traced back to its origins here.