Popularizing the Past
Historians, Publishers, and Readers in Postwar America
9780226826998
9780226826974
9780226826981
Popularizing the Past
Historians, Publishers, and Readers in Postwar America
Popularizing the Past tells the stories of five postwar historians who changed the way ordinary Americans thought about their nation’s history.
What’s the matter with history? For decades, critics of the discipline have argued that the historical profession is dominated by scholars unable, or perhaps even unwilling, to write for the public. In Popularizing the Past, Nick Witham challenges this interpretation by telling the stories of five historians—Richard Hofstadter, Daniel Boorstin, John Hope Franklin, Howard Zinn, and Gerda Lerner—who, in the decades after World War II, published widely read books of national history.
Witham compellingly argues that we should understand historians’ efforts to engage with the reading public as a vital part of their postwar identity and mission. He shows how the lives and writings of these five authors were fundamentally shaped by their desire to write histories that captivated both scholars and the elusive general reader. He also reveals how these authors’ efforts could not have succeeded without a publishing industry and a reading public hungry to engage with the cutting-edge ideas then emerging from American universities. As Witham’s book makes clear, before we can properly understand the heated controversies about American history so prominent in today’s political culture, we must first understand the postwar effort to popularize the past.
What’s the matter with history? For decades, critics of the discipline have argued that the historical profession is dominated by scholars unable, or perhaps even unwilling, to write for the public. In Popularizing the Past, Nick Witham challenges this interpretation by telling the stories of five historians—Richard Hofstadter, Daniel Boorstin, John Hope Franklin, Howard Zinn, and Gerda Lerner—who, in the decades after World War II, published widely read books of national history.
Witham compellingly argues that we should understand historians’ efforts to engage with the reading public as a vital part of their postwar identity and mission. He shows how the lives and writings of these five authors were fundamentally shaped by their desire to write histories that captivated both scholars and the elusive general reader. He also reveals how these authors’ efforts could not have succeeded without a publishing industry and a reading public hungry to engage with the cutting-edge ideas then emerging from American universities. As Witham’s book makes clear, before we can properly understand the heated controversies about American history so prominent in today’s political culture, we must first understand the postwar effort to popularize the past.
Reviews
Table of Contents
Introduction What’s the Matter with History? The Problem of Popularity in Postwar American Historical Writing
Part I Popular History and General Readers
1 Richard Hofstadter: Popular History and the Contradictions of Consensus
2 Daniel Boorstin: Popular History between Liberalism and Conservatism
Part II: Popular History and Activist Readers
3 John Hope Franklin: The Racial Politics of Popular History
4 Howard Zinn: Popular History as Controversy
5 Gerda Lerner: The Struggle for a Popular Women’s History
Conclusion The Legacies of Postwar Popular History
Acknowledgments
Archival Abbreviations
Notes
Index
Part I Popular History and General Readers
1 Richard Hofstadter: Popular History and the Contradictions of Consensus
2 Daniel Boorstin: Popular History between Liberalism and Conservatism
Part II: Popular History and Activist Readers
3 John Hope Franklin: The Racial Politics of Popular History
4 Howard Zinn: Popular History as Controversy
5 Gerda Lerner: The Struggle for a Popular Women’s History
Conclusion The Legacies of Postwar Popular History
Acknowledgments
Archival Abbreviations
Notes
Index