The Historian's Craft |
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• From One History To Another
10 July, 2007
Journalists and historians have the daunting task of answering the five W's. However, Marc Bloch answers history's who, what, where, when, and why in his somewhat legendary book pertaining to the understanding of the historical method, THE HISTORIAN'S CRAFT, like a stream of thought or a conversation with the reader. Although Bloch's examination is not meant to be a complete analysis, he provides a general theoretical and philosophical discussion as it relates to history that is insightful and thought provoking.
I happened to come across this book, not by reading it in one of my history classes, but by looking at the footnotes and bibliographical information embedded in several scholarly articles I read where the mention of the book kept appearing. It is only now that I have had the chance to read this classic book. Bottom line, Bloch summarizes and observes historiography in 20/20 hindsight e.g., "history was a whole, that no period and no topic could be understood except in relation to other periods and topics" (ix). And ironically, Bloch writes from a pre-1945 perspective and did not complete the book as a result of his sudden passing during World War II; one can imagine what his perspective would have turned out to be if he had lived.
Indeed, Bloch was inclined to examine and research history from an interdisciplinary perspective. And although the subject of history has been described as a foreign land, it is a vast landscape with limitless boundaries. A bulk of Bloch's discussion is based on his training, which took him from Ancient to Modern European history. But had he completed this piece of work, as one reads the concluding pages, possibly he may have delved deeper towards the other side of the globe towards Eastern civilization as well as the industrialist Western civilization. Thus Bloch took a broad historical perspective and implemented it within his discipline as an Economic historian who specialized in Medieval history, but interestingly managed to teach the economic development of the United States during his last years of teaching.
After reading THE HISTORIAN'S CRAFT, aspiring historians or the curious will find that their work has only just begun. Readers will be confronted with the theoretical and philosophical questions, but will also see why history is a part of the humanities as well as a craft that can be hypothesized and shaped to a particular interpretation, be it definitive or revisionist. Bloch makes several anecdotal comments, but this is one that is timeless: "Misunderstanding of the present is the inevitable consequence of ignorance of the past. But a man may wear himself out just as fruitlessly in seeking to understand the past, if he is totally ignorant of the present" (43). This is one of the reasons why this book is recommended for supplemental or essential reading.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Interesting Analysis
12 January, 2010
Everyone, at least once in their life, has questioned the usefulness of their career. Marc Bloch, a French economic historian, discovered that this moment could be inspired by a mere inquiry: "Daddy, what is the use of history?" Bloch's answer to his son's innocuous question provides the intellectual back-bone to his study: The Historian's Craft. In this book, Bloch's analysis provides students and professional historians alike with a how-to guide to history, but also, probably most importantly, a poignant defense of the craft itself.
Bloch attempts to lift history from its tradition of romantic storytelling, excessive specialization, and its preoccupation with politics, by re-aligning its practices within the broad realm of intellectual inquiry, most importantly science. "There is then," Bloch writes, "just one science of men in time. It requires us to join the study of the dead and of the living." While Bloc concedes that "human actions...elude mathematical measurement," Bloch argues that any intellectual endeavor that explains change over time is historical in its essence. Geology, for example, explains the processes of erosion and plate-tectonics, within the context of time. Thus, understanding the nature of the earth's crust, in relationship to the deteriorating effects of time, is the purpose of studying geology. In contrast to geology, Bloch explains, "it is men that history seeks to grasp." History like many other sciences, are tools for intellectual inquiry. When man is determined to be the subject in question, history, according to Bloch, is the most appropriate tool. The creation of a lake by a man-made dam serves as an excellent example. The inquisitor who is interested in understanding the events that led to the creation of the man-made lake would be better served by analyzing the economic, political, and social phenomena that led to the creation of the dam, rather than the invisible natural geologic processes that led to the creation of the lake. In this sense, history, in comparison to the highly respected intellectual pursuits of hard science, remains an important fixture in intellectual inquiry.
So Bloch has decisively argued that the subject of history is men. But what context should historians study men? Time, according to Bloch, "is a concrete and living reality with an irreversible onward rush." The harsh reality of this constant, influx- producing force provides the logic behind all major historical events. Thus, history cannot merely be a "science of men," or the "science of past," but is instead the "science of men in time," or man's evolution within the context of time. In relation to this, Bloch additionally believes that historians should "join the study of the dead and of the living." While many world leaders would like to make changes to certain contemporary societies, the cultural traditions of a civilization, which pull against reform, are deeply rooted in the fabric of the past. Thus, Bloch argues that man, "remains a more or less willing prisoner," to human institutions that developed throughout history. A historian or even more importantly a world leader that remains unaware of the controlling function of the past, will fail miserably in his or her attempts to improve the future. Likewise, Bloch argues that historians must also be aware of how the present influences our understanding of the past. Bloch believes that "the knowledge of the present bears even more immediately upon the understanding of the past." Bloch states that since historians do their work "backwards," from present to past, a false understanding of the present could lead a historian on a fool's errand in his analysis of the past. Thus, the past and the present, both functions of time, serve as the foundational reference points that all histories should be written from.
Marc Bloch, before The Historian's Craft was released, was captured, tortured, and executed by invading German forces in 1942. His contribution to historical literature and historiography has been immense and influential. The final intellectual testament of his tragically shortened life and the answer to his son's question: "What is the use of history?" has fascinated modern historians and students alike. Ultimately, Bloch left his historiographic masterpiece to future students of history as inspirational guide that acknowledges the characteristics and tactics of history as an intellectual endeavor.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Epitaph To A Learned Man
21 October, 2007
Marc Bloch--veteran of World Wars I and II, historian, professor, writer, French patriot--entreats us in this spare volume to maintain our objectivity, to interpret history with the skepticism of the journalist and the scientific method of the researcher. He identifies some of the pitfalls, the improperly translated idiom, the anthropomorphism of time and place, and relying too heavily on the written accounts of earlier historians, as means by which the understanding of historical events can be skewed. And history must be viewed as a continuum, a rolling cause-and-effect leading from then until now and beyond, events which seldom fit easily into our need to categorize them by fixed dates. But then, historians already know these things, so of what value is "The Historian's Craft" today?
There is a poignancy to this book that Marc Bloch may not have anticipated from his moment in time, but looking back toward the era in which he wrote, the reader can see "The Historian's Craft" as Bloch's attempt to instill order and sanity into the turbulent and almost inexplicably surreal fall of France during World War II. I interpret this book as his salve, his struggle to maintain objectivity during the madness he observed as the Nazis overwhelmed his country. Older than fifty now, having earned the right to a quiet life in academia but refusing to leave his beloved France, Block joined the Resistance, fought against the Nazis, was captured, tortured and killed. And so, "The Historian's Craft" becomes a record to help us interpret Marc Bloch's life and the era of occupied France, as well as lessons in craft from a learned man.
Bloch wrote: ...a generation represents only a relatively short phase. Longer phases are called civilizations."
- Amazon Customer Review
• Primer On Historic Methodology
06 August, 2007
This book is a primer on Historic Methodology for any aspiring historian, neophyte, dabbler in historic issues, and - perhaps most important of all - a concise road map to understanding the nuances of the historians craft. Furthermore, this book is often used in graduate programs of history or those in need of developing their skills at historic methodology or refining their historic lens as objective observers. Marc Bloch was one of the seminal historic scholars of our age. And his insights on how one reads history or attempts to read history clearly challenge personal bias with reading the tracks left by our ancestors and what their intentions, values, and ideals meant in their own time and for audiences long lost to our contemporary evaluations.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Reflections By A Great Historian
26 February, 2004
This book of reflections by a master historian (and victim of the Nazis, which cut short his illustrious career), is not of the same order magnitude of a philosopher-historian like R. G. Collingwood (who made use of Bloch's work on France in the medieval period), but it contains many insights and historical remarks that make it interesting and informative.I have read and enjoyed this book for years and think you will find it well worth reading and re-reading. The following famous lines from the book illustrate the zest and love he has for the subject:"The good historian is like the giant of the fairy tale. He knows that wherever he catches the scent of human flesh, there his quarry lies." I have it in French, and the English translation, and highly recommend it.
- Amazon Customer Review
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