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The Historian's Craft: Reflections on the Nature and Uses of History and the Techniques and Methods of Those Who Write It.

marc bloch peter putnam joseph r. strayer

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In this classic work, distinguished French economic historian, Marc Bloch, discusses the techniques of historical observation, analysis, and criticism, and the reestablishment of historical causation in assessing events. What is the value of history? What is the use of history? How do scholars attempt to unpack it and make connections in a responsible manner?

While the topics of historiography and historical methodology have become increasingly popular, Bloch remains an authority. He argues that history is a whole; no period and no topic can be understood except in relation to other periods and topics. And what is unique about Bloch is that he puts his theories into practice; for example, calling upon both his experience serving in WWI as well as his many years spent in peaceful study and reflection. He also argues that written records are not enough; a historian must draw upon maps, place-names, ancient tools, aerial surveys, folklore, and everything that is available.

This is a work that argues constantly for a wider, more human history. For a history that describes how and why people live and work together. There is a living, breathing connection between the past and the present and it is the historian’s responsibility to do it justice.

197 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1,1949

This edition

Format
197 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published
March 12, 1964 by Vintage
ISBN
9780394705125
ASIN
0394705122
Language
English

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About the author

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marc bloch

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Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch (6 July 1886 in Lyon – 16 June 1944 in Saint-Didier-de-Formans) was a medieval historian, University Professor and French Army officer. Bloch was a founder of the Annales School, best known for his pioneering studies French Rural History and Feudal Society and his posthumously-published unfinished meditation on the writing of history, The Historian's Craft. He was captured and shot by the Gestapo during the German occupation of France for his work in the French Resistance.

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Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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100 reviews All reviews
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TinyButMighty
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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“I was born in France, I have drunk the waters of her culture. I have made her past my own. I breathe freely only in her climate, and I have done my best, with others, to defend her interests.”
Bloch in L’Etrange Défaite
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ringoo4
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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« Papa, explique-moi donc à quoi sert l’histoire. »

Un livre sans pareil. Écrit pendant l'Occupation par l'historien Marc Bloch à partir de ses seuls souvenirs, ce livre nourri d'érudition fait la somme de la mission de l'historien, question d'une grande urgence à l'âge des totalitarismes et de leurs falsifications de masse. Dans son dernier texte, l'historien écrit un plaidoyer pour une histoire impliquée, soucieuse de véracité et d'honnêteté intellectuelle. Apologie pour l'Histoire ou métier d'historien est le testament de Marc Bloch en même temps que le manifeste qui réunit les principes chers à l'École des Annales.

Chapitre I : L'Histoire, les Hommes et le Temps
Chapitre II : L’Observation historique
Chapitre III : La Critique
Chapitre IV : L'Analyse historique
Chapitre V : Sans suite


Accompagnement :
Waltz on a Minor Opus 150 - Frédéric Chopin, interprétation de Rigutto Bruno
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AdmiralSoul
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I turned to the back of the book to read the author's credentials, expecting the usual Oxbridge/Ivy League pedigree and litany of awards. Instead I was shocked to learn that Marc Bloch had been tortured and killed by Nazis. Here was a historian who joined the French Resistance rather than escape while he could. He penned this meditation on the nature of history as a Jew in occupied France, without the aid of an academic library.

Wow. It would be impossible not to respect Marc Bloch. Though this book isn't perfect, it is amazing that it even exists.

There is much to say about the work. As a literature- and material culture-loving type of history grad student, I especially appreciated the value Bloch put on sources beyond documents found in archives. He incorporated place names, old words, objects, and the built environment into his historical analyses. He questioned things like thinking of historical eras in terms of centuries (or really trying to divide up discrete eras to begin with). He considers how a historian evaluates sources and the various falsehoods that can creep into them.

The Historian's Craft is an artifact of its own time, as one can tell from some of Bloch's post-positivist, not-exactly-Marxist, yet pre-post-structuralist [?] ideas and ways of framing them. [Edit: I've since learned about the Annales School that he was part of. Makes sense now]. The prose style is quite florid, filled with analogies and metaphors, unlike most historical writing today. Then there's the subtitle: "...History...and the Men who Write It." So, yes, it's dated in certain ways.

Still. This book is well worth reading and considering.
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jijijiji
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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L'ho letto, l'ho riletto, l'ho criticato, l'ho rivoltato come un calzino (notare l'usura della copertina scannerizzata).
Non si allontana mai dalla mia vista. E' come un vecchio nonno saggio che, con grande semplicità, al bisogno, mi ricorda il rigore di un mestiere difficile.
Ma non è un testo per addetti ai lavori. E' per chi ama interrogarsi sullo scorrere del tempo e sul posto che ciascuno di noi vi occupa. E' una delle migliori illustrazioni che io conosca di ciò che afferma anche il mitico Francesco: "la storia siamo NOI, nessuno si senta escluso".
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izl0vely
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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O desenvolvimento do argumento do Marc Bloch aqui é meio hermético demais porque 1) o cara tava preso e escrevendo tudo de cabeça 2) o cara tava na iminência da morte, a mente um caos e tal. Ainda assim, é impressionante como o cara conseguiu registrar no papel os principais pontos com uma precisão que me dá arrepios ate hoje.
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4sushi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Siento que lo leí demasiado rápido (y con demasiada jaqueca).
Lo que logre entender me ha parecido magistral, lo que no logre entender queda para una relectura futura. Emocionante dentro de su contexto.
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Feduchiiz
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Excellent book. Translated from French, his turns of phrase are sometimes difficult to parse. But they're always beautiful. His analogies are frequent, inspired, and sometimes humorous. The historiography is original, and while sometimes outdated or abandoned, never unquestionably wrong. The book itself is a unique historical artifact, shaped dramatically by the conditions under which it was written. As a result of those conditions, it is very clearly unfinished. But definitely worth reading. It is particularly interesting if you work with history, but if you have a serious interest, it would probably still be engaging.
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MadisonLluvia
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Хубава книга, но твърде разпиляна в интердисциплинарното анализиране.. И един хубав цитат "Тъй като впрочем няма нищо по - изменчиво по природа от подобни присъди, подложени на всички колебания на колективното съзнание или личната прищявка, историята е приела облика на най-несигурната дисциплина: кухите обвинения са следвани от толкова безполезни реабилитации. Робеспиеристи, антиробеспиеристи, молим ви за милост: смилете се и просто ни кажете какъв е бил Робеспиер"
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