2026 Reading Challenge
The Historian's Craft: Reflections on the Nature and Uses of History and the Techniques and Methods of Those Who Write It.

Questions About The Historian's Craft: Reflections on the Nature and Uses of History and the Techniques and Methods of Those Who Write It.

by Marc Bloch

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Answered Questions (1)

Why history ? And what is relation between history and memory?
Valerie Shearer There is no simple answer . . but here are a few of my thoughts.
Marc Bloch's son had asked him, "Why History?"
Bloch answered his son with this book -…moreThere is no simple answer . . but here are a few of my thoughts.
Marc Bloch's son had asked him, "Why History?"
Bloch answered his son with this book - he wrote sitting in a Nazi prison.
He wrote apologetically at time because he did not have his notes; he wrote from memory. History is memory - the "official" memory of a state or the private memories of individuals. We all have a history that is based on memory; the recordings of others; public monuments as places of memory. At the end of his life, deprived o this notes, Marc Bloch had only his own memory to write; at times he falters because he is unsure; he apologizes because he does not have his notes but he leaves this to us to understand why history matters.
Of all of the books on the theory of history, Marc Bloch's thin volume is simply the most poignant, stirring and inspiring. Soon after he began this book he was murdered by the Nazis who held him. A great loss for all of us. But at the same time, he gave us this beautiful book as a guide.
A basic book for any one who would like to study the art and craft of history. Since his death, many historians and anthropologists have addressed the question about history and memory; but for me, this book is the one that struck a chord.
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