Doing History

Aimed at students beginning degrees, this is the ideal introduction to studying history as an academic subject at university. Doing History presents the ideas and debates that shape how we ‘do’ history today, covering arguments about nature of historical knowledge and the function of historical writing, whether we can really ever know what happened in the past, what sources historians depend on, and whether the historians‘ version of history has more value than popular histories.

This practical and accessible introduction to the discipline introduces students to these key discussions, familiarises them with the important terms and issues, equips them with the necessary vocabulary and encourages them to think about, and engage with, these questions. Clearly structured and accessibly written,it is an essential volume for all students embarking on the study of history.

Mark Donnelly is a lecturer in history at St Mary’s University College. His research interests include contemporary culture, politics, memory and historiography. He is the author of Britain in the Second World War (1999) and Sixties Britain: Culture, Society and Politics (2005). His article on Peter Whitehead's film Wholly Communion will be published in the US journal Framework in 2011.

Claire Norton is a lecturer in Islamic history at St Mary’s University College. Her research interests include Muslim-Christian interactions, conversion practices, Ottoman representations of war, identity construction and Ottoman literacy practices. She edited Nationalism, Historiography and the (Re)Construction of the Past (Washington: New Academia Press, 2007)