Marxism and History

by Matt Perry

The first of the new Theory and History series, Matt Perry's punchy andaccessible volume examines Marxism's enormous impact on the way historians approach their subject. Perry offers both a concise introduction to the Marxist view of history and Marxism historical writing, and a guide to its relevance to students' own work.

Genres: History, Politics

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 2002

Reviews

[Bahattin Cizreli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitabın şu an devam ettiğim çalışmamla ilgili olan ilk üç bölümünü okudum. Yazarın hem kurgusu hem de dili harika. Marksist tarih anlayışının çok net bir değerlendirmesi. Gerek Marksizm gerekse de diğer toplum kuramları hakkında sosyal bilim öğrencilerinin ihtiyaç duyduğu nitelikte çalışmalar. Daha sonra Marx ardılı tarihçiler bölümlerini de okuyacağım. Özellikle Troçki ve E. P. Thompson kısımlarını çok merak ediyorum.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the description on this page says, this book is an introduction to the writing of history using Marxist theory as an approach. I would say it is a good introduction to beginners to Marxism that want to see particularly how it applies to history. For people who have already read a lot about Marxist historiography and are quite familiar already with some of the major works in the field of Marxist history writing, I would say this book is rather unnecessary to read.

Perry clarifies that he wanted the book to be brief, and so he couldn't talk about every good Marxist historian. This is understandable, but his inclination towards Western history is a drawback for those who are interested in Marxist theory's applicability to non-Western societies. For readers looking for a focus on pre-capitalist and non-Western societies, I would recommend Jairus Banaji's "Theory as History."