Product Description

Reviews of the previous Edition:

‘This is exactly the kind of book to recommend warmly to any student wanting a general introduction to the discipline of history. It is highly accessible and could as easily be handled by the general reader wanting to know what is happening to history today.'
British Book News

‘Tosh provides an excellent introduction to methodology in history which will be read with advantage by historians at any stage of their development.'
History

‘...admirably up-to-date, well-researched and written with the kind of brio which might alone suggest that history is exciting....The judgements are individual and sometimes controversial but there is no better tour d'horizon on the market.'
Journal of African History

'Tosh writes clearly and pungently...a very satisfactory as well as stimulating vade-mecum for all who work at history.'
Times Higher Education Supplement

The revised Third edition of this leading introductory textbook features a new introduction in which John Tosh addresses developments in postmodern and cultural history over the last three years. It offers excellent guidance through topics that are sometimes difficult and controversial, and provides an engaging and accessible introduction to the methods and scope of history today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19877 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From the Back Cover

Of previous editions:

“An excellent introduction to methodology in history which will be read with advantage by historians at any stage of their development.”

History

“Can easily be handled by the general reader wanting to know what is happening to history today.”

British Book News

This famous study examines important questions about historians and their work - Why do we study history? How do we construct our knowledge of the past? What are the limitations of historical evidence? What different kinds of history are being written today?

The subjects covered are difficult and sometimes controversial but John Tosh has proved himself an admirable guide in this celebrated work. His cool eye and lively pen make the issues clear and involving; and he makes the reader vividly aware of just how far our historical knowledge is conditioned by the character of the sources and by the methods of the historians who work on them.

In this 4^th edition the main text is made even more accessible through a number of  new features:

• Chapter opening summaries
• Marginal glosses for difficult terms and concepts
• Boxed sections at the end of each chapter dedicated to key events and people
• Illustrative material throughout the text
• Suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter
• Section headings to facilitate navigation around the book

John Tosh is Professor of History at Roehampton University.

Seán Lang is Research Fellow in History at Anglia Polytechnic University.

About the Author

John Tosh is Professor of History at Roehampton University.

Sean Lang is a Research Fellow at Anglia Polytechnic University and was formerly a sixth form teacher. He is also Director of the Historical Association Curriculum Project, developing a new type of history curriculum for pupils aged 14-19.

Customer Reviews

Excellent
Having completed a BA Honours degree in History in 1999 I am still very surprised by the rarity of a worthwhile book on my subject. One that unpacks the discipline itself, inspires enthusiasm and a genuine sense of enjoyment. Invariably you are pointed in the direction of 'How to Study' books as a substitute. But these are an appalling slog for the average reader. They usually comprise 200 pages on how to skim read, make a spider diagram and render a perfectly good text book worthless with a flourescent green highlighter pen! In fact, most 'This is History' books that you can lay hands on are even worse, being almost always 'Source- hysterical'. Just how many times can you explain 'Primary' 'Secondary' and the 'Who', 'What' 'When' and 'To what end' conundrums of witting and unwitting testimony? Then if we stay awake long enough to reach chapter three we step into the academic minefield of verbose and complex 'Marx-speak'. Usually by this time I've joined 'Clarinet' or Tai Chi classes at the local College; sat next to ladies that resemble Renee Roberts of 70's Coronation Street fame. Thankfully however, John Tosh has saved us from such nightmares and produced a little triumph here. Nice, smooth, prose which glides through the subject with fluent skill. He handles historicism and theory without getting bogged down and I was left feeling genuinely 'interested'. History as a subject became far too Weimar obsessed-especially at A level- and fresh, new approaches are needed. Well done John!

An Excellent book for amateur historians and students!
This book is great as it looks at how to go about researching local history looking at issues such as oral, visual and written history. As it says in the title the author looks at "aims, methods and new directions in the study of modern history". Its a very good book for those just starting to look at researching history.Tosh deals with the problems that surround the uses of primary and secondary sources.

The best historiography textbook
John Tosh is in my view an excellent writer. This book enables even dimwits like me to understand the basics of historiography - the methods of history. This edition has really helpful notes in the margins explaining more complicated terms in a very simple way - spelling out anachronistic for example. Where I disagree with him slightly is in his emphasis on oral history being a technique rather than a 'genre'. OK he dedicates a fair bit of space to his book to discussing oral history but is not as positive about its contribution as Gwyn Prins - whose argument is better backed up by sources.