The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past

Rating:
Summary: Philosophical Discussion Without the Pain
Review: Gaddis examines the nature of history and the function of historians through a wide range of metaphors. By putting forth the question: How long is the British coast line? Gaddis immediately sets out that if we measure in miles we won't get to the alcoves and cubbyholes and we'll probably end up with a nice round number. If we measure in microns and millimeters, it'll take a while but we'll measure every single bend and dog leg and we'll have a much larger number. Many of Gaddis' metaphors spur philosophical discussions but he does not approach them with a philosophical background, instead he sets out to solve a functional question: What is history? Is it a natural science? If it is, then why can we not replicate any historical findings as biology and physiology can? Is it a social science? Then why do other social sciences like economics and anthropology try to find an independent variable upon which everything hangs when historians try to put out the bigger picture? Gaddis' conclusion then is that history is its own beast. It does not mirror either the hard sciences nor the social sciences although it may pick up some of their properties.

All in all, this book is very readable for a historiography and may appeal to non-historians seeking a perspective on history. The chapters read more like the text of a speech than a textbook so the minimal 140 or so pages will make this a very easy read.

Rating:
Summary: Great non-partisan book that dismisses leftist hysteria
Review: Wonderful book. An eminent historian shows that efforts to paint Bush's foreign policy as either "radical" or "new" are grounded in complete ignorance of the facts. The effort to democratize the Middle East is not new. It is completely consistent with the US's approach to WWII. We did not want to contain or rollback the Germans or Japanese. Our goal was to destroy their powerbases, change their regimes, and rebuild their regions into open economic and political orders. The Bush doctrine seeks to repeat our proudest accomplishments.