The University of Wisconsin Press
History / African Studies / Archeology
|
Historical
Evidence and Argument Historians know about the past because they examine the evidence. But what exactly is "evidence," how do historians know what it means—and how can we trust them to get it right? Historian David Henige tackles such questions of historical reliability head-on in his skeptical, unsparing, and acerbically witty Historical Evidence and Argument. "Systematic doubt" is his watchword, and he practices what he preaches through a variety of insightful assessments of historical controversies—for example, over the dating of artifacts and the textual analysis of translated documents. Skepticism, Henige contends, forces us to recognize the limits of our knowledge, but it is also a positive force that stimulates new scholarship to counter it. "There is no other book like this
one in its breadth and scope . . . a deftly acerbic series of
sketches of the many ways that historians misread and misuse
evidence." David Henige is the African studies bibliographer at the University of Wisconsin—Madison and editor of several national series on African history. Media & bookseller inquiries regarding review copies, events, and interviews can be directed to the publicity department at publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu or (608) 263-0734. (If you want to examine a book for possible course use, please see our Course Books page. If you want to examine a book for possible rights licensing, please see Rights & Permissions.) |
|
|||||||||
|
If you have trouble accessing any page in this web site,
contact our Web manager. Updated April 5, 2010 © 2010, The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System |