The Ever-Changing Past

“Wise, erudite . . . a clearly written examination of the ways historians go about their craft of interpreting and reinterpreting the past.” —Gordon S. Wood, Brown University

Choice Outstanding Academic Title

History is not, and has never been, inert, certain, merely factual, and beyond reinterpretation. Taking readers from Thucydides to the origin of the French Revolution to the Civil War and beyond, James M. Banner, Jr. explores what historians do and why they do it.

Banner shows why historical knowledge is unlikely ever to be unchanging, why history as a branch of knowledge is always a search for meaning and a constant source of argument, and why history is so essential to individuals’ awareness of their location in the world and to every group and nation’s sense of identity and destiny. He explains why all historians are revisionists while they seek to more fully understand the past, and how they always bring their distinct minds, dispositions, perspectives, and purposes to bear on the subjects they study.

“A genuinely impressive book that traverses the history of history, spanning millennia, taking its readers on a literary ride that encompasses countless issues that are historical, historiographical, and philosophical.” —Eric Arnesen, George Washington University

“A rallying cry in favor of historians who, revisiting past subjects, change their minds . . . Rewarding reading.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A model of accessible, jargon-free prose . . . A useful and sober contribution to specialist historiographical debate and to the understanding of the discipline of history more generally.” —Donald Bloxham, Times Literary Supplement

“A work of learning and integrity, deserving a wide readership beyond the precincts of university discourse.” —M. D. Aeschliman, National Review