The Purpose of the Past

I think it is imperative that as a history grad student I should read Gordon S. Wood's The Purpose of the Past. Here are some excerpts from historian Douglas Brinkley's L. A. Times review:

"Ever since Gordon S. Wood's "The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787" was published in 1969 -- and won the prestigious Bancroft Prize -- his books have epitomized the best in American historiography. His pitch-perfect erudition is legendary. Wood's superb 1991 book, "The Radicalism of the American Revolution," won the Pulitzer Prize. The Brown University historian is now the go-to scholar on the American Revolution, the Federalist Papers, the U.S. Constitution and the Jeffersonian era. When Wood -- impeccable in his academic scholarship, never overstating an idea or padding an anecdote -- publishes, other historians pay attention. And in his sixth book, "The Purpose of the Past," he makes it abundantly clear that postmodern historical scholarship is far too self-referential. A solid work of history, he argues, shouldn't tell readers "more about the historian than the events he or she is presumably recounting.""

""The Purpose of the Past" is a fine collection of Wood's best long-form book reviews from the New York Review of Books and the New Republic. It begins with a meditation on Garry Wills' extraordinary "Explaining America" (1981) and ends with a dissection of Robin L. Einhorn's pioneering "American Taxation, American Slavery" (2006). But Wood has added an afterword, a careful analysis of the long-term significance of each book through the lens of hindsight. You might say he is, in essence, reviewing his own reviews."

"Frequently in "The Purpose of the Past," Wood sings the praises of historians he admires (Charles Royster, "The Fabulous History of the Dismal Swamp Company"; David Hackett Fischer, "Albion's Seed"). But Wood is not a puff-job specialist: Relishing his self-anointed role as arbiter of what constitutes real history, he denigrates the work of such notable practitioners of history as Simon Schama, John Patrick Diggins and Richard K. Matthews. And while he touts the virtues of political history, he also warns against letting modern political views infect the work he loves so dearly. "I am reminded of Rebecca West's wise observation that when politics comes in the door, truth flies out the window. Historians who want to influence politics with their history writing have missed the point of the craft; they ought to run for office.""

Full review.