An Intelligent Person's Guide to History (Intelligent Person's Guide Series) - Softcover

Vincent, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0715627503 ISBN 13: 9780715627501

Publisher: Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd, 1996

Synopsis

John Vincent has often been accused of political incorrectness in his writings about history. In this controversial study of history, Professor Vincent goes to the very heart of the complex issues raised by the subject. In 1928 Bernard Shaw wrote his "Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism". Nearly 70 years later, in a simliarly poelmical tract, Vincent makes no such concessions to feminist sensibilities or to the politics of the left. The text provides a comprehensive examination of the philosophy and evolution of history. It explores notions of historical evidence, meaning, the concept of historical imagination, morality and history, causality and bias, and hindsight. This expanded paperback edition includes an account by the author of the critical reception that greeted the book's original publication, and the controversy that it generated.

About this title

Review

"'a clever, wilful, self-consciously quirky little book' - Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph; 'The sheer effrontery of the tone gives the book a clear edge over much of the competition...' - Michael Bentley, TLS; 'A good book to give anyone thinking of reading history, or fed up with the way it is studied or written' - The Spectator"

About the Author

John Vincent has been Professor of History at the University of Bristol since 1970. Among his many influential publications are The Foundation of the Liberal Party (1966), Gladstone and Ireland (1979) and a masterly short biography of Disraeli (1990). He is also widely known as a journalist and controversialist.

Edition details

• Publisher: Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0715627503
• ISBN 13: 9780715627501
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128