Thinking Back : The Perils of Writing History

Examines how viewpoints have changed on the history of the south and explains the reasons for a reinterpretation of Southern history

An eminent Southerner reflects on his development as a historian, describes his encounters with ideas and fellow practitioners, reveals how he came to write his major books, and discusses their critical reception and his reaction to criticism. Variously charged wtih being a one-time activist, part-time moralist, full-time presentist, addicted ironist, and (with Reinhold Niebuhr and George Kennan) a liberal realist, Woodward finds that "correction of error and the alteration of viewpoint are neither surprising nor terribly embarrassing." In his opinion, historians have obligations to the present as well as to the past they study. How events happen can be as important as why. Intrigues, plots and hopes are as revealing about the meaning of an event as disclosure of "the determining factor." For anyone interested in how a historian works and how perceived "truths" become the launching pad for oncoming generations of revisionists, this short book will be required and pleasurable reading.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this blend of autobiography and historiography, Woodward retraces the sources and significance of his writings about the American South. Throughout he remains gracious and generous, though largely unrepentant, as he debates with his critics on the central themes of Southern history, especially his insistence on the social, economic, and political discontinuities marking Southern experience. Woodward reminds us that the perils of writing history include the withering quality of any historical truth over time, neglect by critics, and, most of all, writing without conviction. Woodward again infuses his history with passion, and in a concluding observation worries that the latest new South has lost its sense of vulnerability and guilt by indulging in Reagan-style nationalism and "innocence . . . by fiat." Recommended for university and large public libraries. Randall M. Miller, History Dept., St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.