Presenting history : past and present
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Bibliographic Information
Presenting history : past and present
Palgrave Macmillan, 2012
- : pbk
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Presenting history : past & present
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Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Who reads academic histories? Should historians reach out more beyond academia to the general public? Why do Hollywood films, historical novels and television histories prove more successful in presenting the past to a wider audience? What can historians do to improve their effectiveness in reaching and engaging their target audience in a digital age?
The way history is presented to an audience is often taken for granted, even ignored. Presenting History explores the vital role played by presenters in both establishing why history matters in today's world and communicating the past to audiences within and outside academia. Through case studies of leading historians, historical novelists, Hollywood filmmakers and television history presenters, this book looks critically at alternative literary and visual ways of presenting the past as both academic history and popular history.
Historians discussed include Stephen Ambrose, Niall Ferguson, Eric Hobsbawm, Robert A. Rosenstone, Simon Schama, Joan Wallach Scott and A.J.P. Taylor. Chapter topics include Hollywood and history; Michael Bellesiles' controversial history of gun rights in the USA; Philippa Gregory's historical novels; historians and the David Irving trial; and Terry Deary's 'Horrible Histories'.
Raising serious questions about the nature, study and communication of history, Presenting History is an essential text for historians and history students, as well as anyone involved in listening to, reading, or watching presenters of the past.
Table of Contents
List of Boxes
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
PART I: PRESENTING HISTORY Why History and Presenters of the Past Matter
Presenting History in Academia
Reaching Out to a Popular Audience
PART II: PRESENTERS OF THE PAST: CASE STUDIES A.J.P. Taylor: the People's 'History Man'
Eric Hobsbawm: the Marxist Historian
Simon Schama: the Television Historian
by "Nielsen BookData"