The whig interpretation of history available for download and read online in other formats. The whig interpretation of history by sir herbert butterfield, september 1965, w. The whig interpretation of history by herbert butterfield goodreads. Butterfields book, the whig interpretation of history 1931, became a classic for history students and is still widely read. Pdf the whig interpretation of history download full. But their own antiwhig interpretation is priggish and fails to. Two cheers for the whig interpretation of history perspectives on.
Hallams works helped materially to lay the foundations of the english historical school, and, in spite of later researches, maintain their position as standard books. Eliohs butterfield the whig interpretation of history. The whig interpretation of history herbert butterfield w. Butterfield had in mind especially the historians of his own country but his criticism of the retrospective creation of a line of progress toward the glorious present can be and has subsequently been applied generally. This was a good book, attacking some unnecessary assumptions, while encouraging the pursuit of historical questions.
The matter is historical and political, it deals with knowledge and epistemology, culture and philosophy. And, in his search for origins and causes, he can easily select. The whig interpretation of history semantic scholar. Thomas mcintire, then at the institute for christian studies. When he published it in 1931, he was a fellow of peterhouse. The whig interpretation of history, which evaluates the past in terms of the present, is derided by the new historians of science. When he published it, he was a cambridge fellow, barely 31, slight of build, and very shy. A classic essay on the distortions of history that occur when historians impose a rigid point of view on the study of the past. Still, the ambiguously partial praise i offer here is not just for the whig interpretation of history but also for the unitalicized and lowercased whig interpretation s of history that the book criticizes. The whig interpretation of history by butterfield, herbert, sir, 1900publication date 1965 topics historiography publisher new york. Sir herbert butterfield was regius professor of history and vicechancellor of the university of cambridge. Butterfield whig interpretation of history pdf the following study deals with the whig interpretation of history in what i conceive to be the accepted meaning of the phrase.
This book is a critical essay on the whig interpretation of history according to the theory standing behind, i. Butterfields little book the whig interpretation of history made his name as a historian. The british historian herbert butterfield coined the term whig history in his short but influential book the whig interpretation of history 1931. The whig historian studies the past with reference to the present. It takes its name from the british whigs, advocates of the power of parliament, who opposed the tories, advocates of the power of the king. Herbert butterfields the whig interpretation of history seeks to dissolve historical abridgments popularized by whig history, a term he coins as the historiographical fallacy of studying the past for the presents sake, often in favor of protestant and whig narratives.
Butterfields whig interpretation of history made his name as a historian. Sir herbert butterfield, master of peterhouse, cambridge 195568, regius professor of history 196368, and author of the whig interpretation of history 1931, was one of the leading. Although butterfields generation of historians learned to be suspicious of stirring narratives that played fast and loose with. Herbert butterfields the whig interpretation of history. Butterfields book on the whig interpretation marked the emergence of a negative. Whig history or whig historiography is an approach to historiography that presents the past as.
Download pdf the whig interpretation of history book full free. Whig interpretation of history september 1965 edition. Butterfield the whig interpretation of history contents eliohs. At least it covers all that is ordinarily understood by the words, though possibly it gives them also an extended sense. Herbert butterfield, the whig interpretation of history 1931 url.
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