Histories and Fallacies: Problems Faced in the Writing of History

A first-rate historical theologian references classic examples to confront conceptual and methodological problems in the works of those who seek to appropriate history for their own purposes.Seeking to raise the bar for all historians,Histories and Fallaciesaddresses several problems in the historical disciplines: objectivity, evidence and meaning, anachronism, idealism, and causality and context. In each chapter author Carl R. Trueman gives an account of the problem, examines one or more classic examples of it, and suggests either a solution or an approach that will bear fruit.This compelling book will be especially valued by advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and history lovers seeking a guide to the conceptual and methodological problems in this challenging discipline.
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How do we know the stories told by historians are true? To what extent can we rely on their interpretations of the past?


Histories and Fallacies is a primer on the conceptual and methodological problems in the discipline of history. Historian Carl Trueman presents a series of classic historical problems as a way to examine what history is, what it means, and how it can be told and understood. Each chapter in Histories and Fallacies gives an account of a particular problem, examines classic examples of that problem, and then suggests a solution or approach that will bear fruit for the writer or reader of history.


Readers who follow Trueman’s deft writing will not just be learning theory but will already be practicing fruitful approaches to history. Histories and Fallacies guides both readers and writers of history away from dead ends and methodological mistakes, and into a fresh confidence in the productive nature of the historical task.


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