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The Purpose of the Past: Reflections on the Uses of History
History is to society what memory is to the individual—without it, we don’t know who we are and we can’t make wise decisions about our future.
About The Purpose of the Past: Reflections on the Uses of History
History is to society what memory is to the individual—without it, we don’t know who we are and we can’t make wise decisions about our future. But while the nature of memory is constant, the nature of history has changed radically over the past forty years. In The Purpose of the Past, historian Gordon S. Wood examines this sea change in his field through consideration of some of its most important historians and their works. Along the way, he offers wonderful insight into what great historians do, how they can stumble, and what strains of thought have dominated the marketplace of ideas in historical scholarship. The result is a history of American history—and an argument for its ongoing necessity. A commanding assessment of the field by one of its masters, The Purpose of the Past will enlarge every reader’s capacity to appreciate history.
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More by Gordon S. Wood
Power and Liberty : Constitutionalism in the American Revolution
Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different (Unabridged)
Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (Unabridged)
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic (Unabridged)
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787
The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815
The Radicalism of the American Revolution
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- The Purpose of the Past: Reflections on the Uses of History is by Gordon S. Wood.
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