The Pursuit of History - 9780582894129

In this fifth edition of his history of historiography, Tosh (history, Roehampton University, UK) has rewritten and updated several chapters, deleting some schools of thought now discarded and adding newer approaches such as gender studies and postcolonial theory. His goal remains the same, however; to introduce students to the many ways of looking at the past and to encourage them to analyze both primary and secondary sources according to the possible bias of the author. He reviews the major influences for modern historians, such as Marx and Weber, as well as explaining the problems involved in using memoirs and chronicles in the search for accuracy. Sidebars give information on terms, events and people that may be unfamiliar. These can be useful, but the texts often show his own historical bias, something teachers might consider incorporating as they use this book. Nevertheless, this is a useful introduction for undergraduate history students. The techniques Tosh describes for evaluating historical evidence can also be usefully applied to perusal of the daily paper. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)