A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. Some historians are recognized by publications or training and experience. "Historian" became a professional occupation in the late nineteenth century as research universities were emerging in Germany and elsewhere.
120-639: Knut Borchardt (2 June 1929 – 5 February 2023) was a German researcher, historian and former professor for history and economics at both the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the University of Mannheim from 1962 to 1991. Moreover, he served as rector at the University of Mannheim between 1967 and 1969. Borchardt was born in Berlin , Germany. He studied from 1949 to 1954 economics , business administration , history and German studies at
240-584: A PhD degree for new full-time hires. A scholarly thesis, such as a doctoral dissertation, is now regarded as the baseline qualification for a professional historian. However, some historians still gain recognition based on published (academic) works and the award of fellowships by academic bodies like the Royal Historical Society . Publication is increasingly required by smaller schools, so graduate papers become journal articles and PhD dissertations become published monographs. The graduate student experience
360-563: A Scottish historian, and the Historiographer Royal published the History of Scotland 1542 – 1603 , in 1759 and his most famous work, The history of the reign of Charles V in 1769. His scholarship was painstaking for the time and he was able to access a large number of documentary sources that had previously been unstudied. He was also one of the first historians who understood the importance of general and universally applicable ideas in
480-409: A belief that history was a type of science. However, in the 20th century historians incorporated social science dimensions like politics, economy, and culture in their historiography, including postmodernism. Since the 1980s there has been a special interest in the memories and commemoration of past events. History by its nature is prone to continuous debate, and historians tend to be divided. There
600-465: A career that spanned much of the century, Ranke set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources ( empiricism ), an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics ( aussenpolitik ). Sources had to be hard, not speculations and rationalizations. His credo was to write history the way it was. He insisted on primary sources with proven authenticity. The term Whig history
720-500: A debate, waving about a large amount of money in his hands and announcing he had $ 1,000 to give to her or anyone who could find a written order from Hitler for the Holocaust. Lipstadt ignored Irving, despite his repeated attempts to draw her into a debate. After Lipstadt's lecture had ended, Irving announced that Lipstadt's refusal to debate with him or produce a written order from Hitler for the Holocaust, despite his promise to pay $ 1,000 on
840-562: A highly influential cluster of British Marxist historians , who contributed to history from below and class structure in early capitalist society. Members included Christopher Hill , Eric Hobsbawm and E. P. Thompson . World history , as a distinct field of historical study, emerged as an independent academic field in the 1980s. It focused on the examination of history from a global perspective and looked for common patterns that emerged across all cultures. Arnold J. Toynbee 's ten-volume A Study of History , written between 1933 and 1954,
960-437: A historian. His conclusions were that Not one of [Irving's] books, speeches or articles, not one paragraph, not one sentence in any of them, can be taken on trust as an accurate representation of its historical subject. All of them are completely worthless as history, because Irving cannot be trusted anywhere, in any of them, to give a reliable account of what he is talking or writing about. ... if we mean by historian someone who
1080-417: A new speech by Irving that they'd arranged with him to videotape, after an older one by Lipstadt (the network claimed this was going to be done for "balance"); when Lipstadt told C-SPAN she would not appear on the show under those circumstances, C-SPAN originally told her they would air Irving's speech by itself, but C-SPAN ended up cancelling this planned programme and instead aired a special that focused on how
1200-446: A progressive model of British history, according to which the country threw off superstition, autocracy and confusion to create a balanced constitution and a forward-looking culture combined with the freedom of belief and expression. This model of human progress has been called the Whig interpretation of history . In his main work Histoire de France , French historian Jules Michelet coined
1320-418: A regular academic career, must entice other scholars to help him; and with the present [high] demand for college teachers, this is no easy task. An undergraduate history degree is often used as a stepping stone to graduate studies in business or law. Many historians are employed at universities and other facilities for post-secondary education. In addition, it is normal for colleges and universities to require
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#17330859969311440-469: A simple accounting of events, but strived on the contrary to pose and solve problems and, neglecting surface disturbances, to observe the long and medium-term evolution of economy, society, and civilisation. Marxist historiography developed as a school of historiography influenced by the chief tenets of Marxism , including the centrality of social class and economic constraints in determining historical outcomes. Friedrich Engels wrote The Condition of
1560-420: A substantial scale to kill hundreds of thousands of Jews," and "it follows that it is my conclusion that Irving's denials of these propositions were contrary to the evidence." Furthermore, "the allegation that Irving is a racist is also established." Ultimately, the judge ruled that the defence succeeded in proving everything they claimed in trial but for two assertions: that Irving had broken an agreement with
1680-550: A trip to Auschwitz with Rogers and Bateman and they had spent hours talking through Irving's claims. Van Pelt took the three lawyers and Deborah Lipstadt around Birkenau showing them how Irving's claims were false and the mistake he had made about the physical layout. He later adapted the report he wrote into book form. In the trial, Irving represented himself . He called the American Kevin B. MacDonald , an evolutionary psychologist , to testify on his behalf. Irving made much of
1800-473: A written Führer order with doubts about the Holocaust. Browning used to support his thesis the example of Hitler's secret speech to his Gauleiters on 12 December 1941, in which Hitler strongly alluded to genocide as the "Final Solution". Browning testified that the Madagascar Plan of 1940–41 was "fantastic" and "bizarre", but countered Irving's suggestion that this proves the alleged impossibility of
1920-449: Is concerned to discover the truth about the past, and to give as accurate a representation of it as possible, then Irving is not a historian. During the trial, Evans was cross-examined by Irving. D.D. Guttenplan later wrote that the cross-examination of Evans by Irving contained a high degree of personal antagonism between the two men. Such was the degree of antagonism that Irving challenged Evans on very minor points, such as Evans doubting
2040-461: Is difficult—those who finish their doctorate in the United States take on average 8 or more years; funding is scarce except at a few very rich universities. Being a teaching assistant in a course is required in some programs; in others it is a paid opportunity awarded a fraction of the students. Until the 1970s it was rare for graduate programs to teach how to teach; the assumption was that teaching
2160-411: Is especially true of narrative history, which nonprofessionals have all but taken over. The gradual withering of the narrative impulse in favor of the analytical urge among professional academic historians has resulted in a virtual abdication of the oldest and most honored role of the historian, that of storyteller. Having abdicated... the professional is in a poor position to patronize amateurs who fulfill
2280-511: Is most facile at taking accurate information and shaping it to confirm his conclusions. A review of his recent book, Churchill's War , which appeared in New York Review of Books , accurately analyzed his practice of applying a double standard of evidence. He demands "absolute documentary proof" when it comes to proving the Germans guilty, but he relies on highly circumstantial evidence to condemn
2400-563: Is no past that is commonly agreed upon, since there are competing histories (e.g., of elites, non-elites, men, women, races, etc.). It is widely accepted that "strict objectivity is epistemologically unattainable for historians". Historians rarely articulate their conception of objectivity or discuss it in detail. And like in other professions, historians rarely analyze themselves or their activity. In practice, "specific canons of historical proof are neither widely observed nor generally agreed upon" among professional historians. Though objectivity
2520-418: Is not seen as possible in historical practice: a historian's interest inevitably influences their judgement (what information to use and omit, how to present the information, etc.); the sources used by historians for their history all have bias, and historians are products of their culture, concepts, and beliefs. Racial and cultural biases can play major roles in national histories, which often ignore or downplay
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#17330859969312640-640: Is often seen as the goal of those who work on history, in practice there is no convergence on anything in particular. Historical scholarship is never value free since historian's writings are impacted by the frameworks of their times. Some scholars of history have observed that there are no particular standards for historical fields such as religion, art, science, democracy, and social justice as these are by their nature 'essentially contested' fields, such that they require diverse tools particular to each field beforehand in order to interpret topics from those fields. There are three commonly held reasons why avoiding bias
2760-482: Is on the plaintiff. He was able to file the lawsuit in England because the book was published there (before 1996, if Irving had wished to sue Lipstadt, he would have had to launch his legal action in an American court; English libel law applies only to alleged acts of libel committed in England and Wales). As explained by the trial judge, Mr Justice Gray , 4.7 ... the burden of proving the defence of justification rests upon
2880-478: Is poor and getting worse, with many relegated to part-time "adjunct" teaching jobs with low pay and no benefits. C. Vann Woodward (1908–1999), Sterling Professor of History at Yale University, cautioned that the academicians had themselves abdicated their role as storytellers: Professionals do well to apply the term "amateur" with caution to the historian outside their ranks. The word does have deprecatory and patronizing connotations that occasionally backfire. This
3000-434: Is the history of the arts, of commerce, of civilization – in a word, – of the human mind." He broke from the tradition of narrating diplomatic and military events, and emphasized customs, social history, and achievements in the arts and sciences. He was the first scholar to make a serious attempt to write the history of the world, eliminating theological frameworks, and emphasizing economics, culture, and political history. At
3120-618: The Irving v Penguin Books and Lipstadt trial, the court relied on Richard Evan's witness report which mentioned "objective historian" in the same vein as the reasonable person , and reminiscent of the standard traditionally used in English law of " the man on the Clapham omnibus ". This was necessary so that there would be a legal benchmark to compare and contrast the scholarship of an objective historian against
3240-571: The Yale Law Journal , Wendie E. Schneider distils these seven points for what he meant by an objective historian: Schneider uses the concept of the "objective historian" to suggest that this could be an aid in assessing what makes a historian suitable as expert witnesses under the Daubert standard in the United States . Schneider proposed this, because, in her opinion, Irving could not have passed
3360-487: The science of biography , science of hadith and Isnad (chain of transmission). They later applied these methodologies to other historical figures in the Islamic civilization . Famous historians in this tradition include Urwah (d. 712), Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. 728), Ibn Ishaq (d. 761), al-Waqidi (745–822), Ibn Hisham (d. 834), Muhammad al-Bukhari (810–870) and Ibn Hajar (1372–1449). During
3480-623: The Age of Enlightenment , the modern development of historiography through the application of scrupulous methods began. French philosophe Voltaire (1694–1778) had an enormous influence on the art of history writing. His best-known histories are The Age of Louis XIV (1751), and Essay on the Customs and the Spirit of the Nations (1756). "My chief object," he wrote in 1739, "is not political or military history, it
3600-519: The Defamation Act 1952 , which states that a justification defence can succeed despite the failure to prove minor assertions. The judge summarised his findings as follows: Irving has for his own ideological reasons persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence; that for the same reasons he has portrayed Hitler in an unwarrantedly favourable light, principally in relation to his attitude towards and responsibility for
3720-615: The Great Reform Act of 1832 in England. Thomas Carlyle published his magnum opus, the three-volume The French Revolution: A History in 1837. The resulting work had a passion new to historical writing. Thomas Macaulay produced his most famous work of history, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second , in 1848. His writings are famous for their ringing prose and for their confident, sometimes dogmatic, emphasis on
Knut Borchardt - Misplaced Pages Continue
3840-419: The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich where he obtained his Diplom (former German master's equivalent) in 1954. Afterwards, he obtained his doctorate in economics and his habilitation in 1961 at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich . Borchardt worked from 1961 to 1962 as assistant professor at the University of Tübingen . After a proposal in 1962, he became professor for economics and history at
3960-650: The Middle Ages . They wrote about the history of Jesus Christ, that of the Church and that of their patrons, the dynastic history of the local rulers. In the Early Middle Ages historical writing often took the form of annals or chronicles recording events year by year, but this style tended to hamper the analysis of events and causes. An example of this type of writing is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles , which were
4080-601: The Posen speech given by Himmler in October 1943 as a proof of the genocidal policy of the German state. Irving by contrast argued for a literal interpretation of the phrase "resettlement in the East". During his testimony and a cross-examination by Irving, Browning countered Irving's suggestion that the last chapter of the Holocaust has yet to be written (implying there were grounds for doubting
4200-601: The University of Mannheim . In 1967, Gaugler became rector (president) of the university and remained in this position until 1969. He was succeeded by Hans-Martin Pawlowski in his role as rector of the UMA. He left the university in 1969 and remained until his retirement in 1991 at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich . Borchardt was author of the well-known "Borchardt-Hypothesis", which claims that stabilisation policy in Germany during
4320-694: The Yad Vashem centre in Jerusalem that made him an "Israeli agent" and thereby compromised his scholarly abilities by stating: "If that was the case, then since I had been at the [US] Holocaust Museum, I would also have been an agent of the American government, and since I have received scholarships in Germany, I would be an agent of the German government, so I must be a very duplicitous fellow to be able to follow these regimes." Irving seemed anxious for Browning's approval, and Browning later recalled that Irving behaved as if
4440-478: The claimant show that the statements are defamatory. The burden of proof falls on the defendant to prove that the statements were substantially true and reliance on sources is irrelevant. If the defence could not prove the defamatory content of her words to be substantially true, they would be found guilty of libel. Lipstadt feared that such a verdict would confer legitimacy upon Irving's claims and felt compelled to defend herself. One commentator, who had expressed
4560-471: The 16th century BCE, and it includes many treatises on specific subjects and individual biographies of prominent people and also explores the lives and deeds of commoners, both contemporary and those of previous eras. Christian historiography began early, perhaps as early as Luke-Acts , which is the primary source for the Apostolic Age . Writing history was popular among Christian monks and clergy in
4680-505: The Allies. This is an accurate description not only of Irving's tactics, but of those of deniers in general. In November 1994, Lipstadt had her first direct encounter with Irving at DeKalb College in Atlanta , while she was lecturing on Holocaust denial. Irving had listened to the lecture while sitting in the lecture hall and when it was over, did his best to disrupt Lipstadt by challenging her to
4800-430: The English courts gave him the upper hand by shifting the burden of proof . Under American libel law , a public figure who claims to have been libelled must prove that the statements in question are defamatory and false, and were made with actual malice or with reckless disregard for their truth or falsity. Reliance on reliable sources (even if they prove false) is a valid defence. English libel law requires only that
4920-627: The Great Depression was credit constrained and that lack of budgetary discipline during the preceding years was instrumental in creating this constraint. In 1987 he received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize and in 1999 the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art . Between 1968 and 1982 Borchardt was editor of the influential Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik . Borchardt died on 5 February 2023, at
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5040-797: The Greek tradition . While early Roman works were still written in Greek, the Origines , composed by the Roman statesman Cato the Elder (234–149 BCE), was written in Latin, in a conscious effort to counteract Greek cultural influence. Strabo (63 BCE – c. 24 CE ) was an important exponent of the Greco-Roman tradition of combining geography with history, presenting a descriptive history of peoples and places known to his era. Livy (59 BCE – 17 CE) records
5160-748: The Holocaust . The court ruled that Irving's claim of libel relating to Holocaust denial was not valid under English defamation law because Lipstadt's claim that he had deliberately distorted evidence had been shown to be substantially true . English libel law puts the burden of proof on the defence, meaning that it was up to Lipstadt and her publisher to prove that her claims of Irving's deliberate misrepresentation of evidence to conform to his ideological viewpoints were substantially true. Lipstadt hired British lawyer Anthony Julius while Penguin hired libel experts Kevin Bays and Mark Bateman of media law firm Davenport Lyons . Richard J. Evans , an established historian,
5280-469: The Holocaust by stating: "...I do think they took it seriously. It is fantastic, but of course, Auschwitz is fantastic, too". Browning testified that the Madagascar Plan was not "Hitler's pipe dream" as Irving claimed, and that "I would not call it a pipe dream, because I think, if England had surrendered, they would have tried to do it. They would have tried to implement it just as they tried to implement
5400-531: The Holocaust is due to a lack of access to archives in the former Soviet Union. Likewise, Browning argued that it is possible to become soaked in human blood after shooting people at close range based on his research for his 1992 book Ordinary Men and dismissed Irving's argument that accounts of German personnel being soaked in blood were improbable because it is not possible to have a blood-soaked uniform after shooting people at close range. Browning responded to Irving's claim that because Browning had done work for
5520-515: The Jews of Europe during the war, thus rendering the need for a written order irrelevant. Browning testified that several leading experts on Nazi Germany believe that there was no written Führer order for the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question", but no historian doubts the reality of the Holocaust. Browning went on to assert that Irving was attempting to falsely equate doubts about the existence of
5640-553: The Lublin reservation plan [the Nisko Plan ] and just as they tried and succeeded in implementing the death camp plans." Browning categorically rejected Irving's claim that there was no reliable statistical information on the size of the pre-war Jewish population in Europe or on the killing processes and argued that the only reason historians debate whether five or six million Jews were killed in
5760-526: The Mediterranean region. The earliest known critical historical works were The Histories , composed by Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484 – c. 425 BCE ) who later became known as the "father of history" ( Cicero ). Herodotus attempted to distinguish between more and less reliable accounts and personally conducted research by travelling extensively, giving written accounts of various Mediterranean cultures. Although Herodotus' overall emphasis lay on
5880-502: The Moscow archives and mishandled the glass plates containing Goebbels' diaries, and that he hung a portrait of Hitler above his desk. However, the judge pointed out that "the charges against Irving that have been proved to be true are of sufficient gravity", and when taking that into account, adding those two claims mentioned above would "not have any material effect on Irving's reputation." The judge decided this in accordance with section 5 of
6000-780: The Working Class in England in 1844 , which was salient in creating the socialist impetus in British politics from then on, e.g. the Fabian Society . R. H. Tawney 's The Agrarian Problem in the Sixteenth Century (1912) and Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926), reflected his ethical concerns and preoccupations in economic history . A circle of historians inside the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) formed in 1946 and became
6120-581: The actions and characters of men, he also attributed an important role to divinity in the determination of historical events. Thucydides largely eliminated divine causality in his account of the war between Athens and Sparta, establishing a rationalistic element that set a precedent for subsequent Western historical writings. He was also the first to distinguish between cause and immediate origins of an event, while his successor Xenophon ( c. 431 – 355 BCE) introduced autobiographical elements and character studies in his Anabasis . The Romans adopted
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#17330859969316240-428: The age of 93. Historian In the 19th century scholars used to study ancient Greek and Roman historians to see how generally reliable they were. In recent decades, however, scholars have focused more on the constructions, genres, and meanings that ancient historians sought to convey to their audiences. History is always written with contemporary concerns and ancient historians wrote their histories in response to
6360-484: The amended document provided a clear statement of the strong evidence against Irving. The decision was eventually left to Richard Rampton and Heather Rogers as they would be presenting the case and both were in favour of amending; Mishcon relented. The testimony of van Pelt and Evans proved to be the most substantial. During cross-examination, Irving was unable to undermine either Evans, who had been highly critical of his scholarship, or van Pelt, whose report concentrated on
6480-524: The book from publication in the UK and destroy all of the remaining copies, publicly disavow all of Lipstadt's conclusions and make a charitable donation of £500 in the name of Irving's daughter (who was disabled). He also suggested to Penguin that they keep any terms confidential because he had no intention of settling with Lipstadt. Bays and Bateman made clear that the publisher rejected his terms. Three weeks later, Irving officially offered to settle with both parties,
6600-431: The case did not go to court. In letters of 25 and 28 October 1997, Irving threatened to sue John Lukacs for libel if he published his book, The Hitler of History , without removing certain passages highly critical of Irving's work. The American edition of The Hitler of History was published in 1997 with the allegedly libellous passages but because of Irving's legal threats, no British edition of The Hitler of History
6720-546: The case was argued as a bench trial before Mr. Justice Gray , who produced a written judgment 349 pages long in favour of the defendants, in which he detailed Irving's systematic distortion of the historical record of the Holocaust and Hitler's role therein. In 1993, Free Press published Professor Deborah Lipstadt 's book Denying the Holocaust: the Growing Assault on Truth and Memory . In it she described and condemned
6840-489: The certainty that the publisher would have been called by Lipstadt's lawyers as plaintiff advocates if they had settled the lawsuit. Evans and his two assistants spent more than two years examining Irving's work. This research found that Irving had misrepresented historical evidence to support his prejudices. In his report and testimony, Evans suggested that in his view, Irving had knowingly used forged documents as sources, and that for this reason, Irving could not be regarded as
6960-465: The charge of denying the Holocaust in Austria , where Holocaust denial is a crime and where an arrest warrant was issued based on speeches he made in 1989. Irving knew that the warrant had been issued and that he was banned from Austria, but chose to go to Austria anyway. After he was arrested, Irving claimed in his plea that he changed his opinions on the Holocaust, "I said that then based on my knowledge at
7080-411: The common people, rather than the leaders and institutions of the country. Another important French historian of the period was Hippolyte Taine . He was the chief theoretical influence of French naturalism , a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practitioners of historicist criticism. Literary historicism as a critical movement has been said to originate with him. One of
7200-543: The concept of historical materialism into the study of world-historical development. In his conception, the economic conditions and dominant modes of production determined the structure of society at that point. Previous historians had focused on the cyclical events of the rise and decline of rulers and nations. Process of nationalization of history , as part of national revivals in the 19th century, resulted with separation of "one's own" history from common universal history by such way of perceiving, understanding and treating
7320-581: The criticisms on which the Defendants have chosen to rely." On the issue of Auschwitz, the judge states "My conclusion is that the various categories of evidence do 'converge' in the manner suggested by the Defendants... Having considered the various arguments advanced by Irving to assail the effect of the convergent evidence relied upon by the Defendants, it is my conclusion that no objective, fair-minded historian would have serious cause to doubt that there were gas chambers at Auschwitz and that they were operated on
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#17330859969317440-420: The cultural context of the times. An important part of the contribution of many modern historians is the verification or dismissal of earlier historical accounts through reviewing newly discovered sources and recent scholarship or through parallel disciplines like archaeology . Understanding the past appears to be a universal human need, and the telling of history has emerged independently in civilizations around
7560-402: The defence's evidence against him, or on whether or not Lipstadt had defamed him, Irving seemed to focus mainly on his "right to free speech ". In his closing statement, Irving claimed to have been a victim of an international, mostly Jewish, conspiracy for more than three decades. The judgment was presented on 11 April 2000, although the lawyers had received the decision 24 hours earlier. To
7680-426: The evidence that contradicted the Holocaust deniers' arguments about Auschwitz Birkenau . Evans was assisted by two postgraduates, Thomas Skelton-Robinson and Nik Wachsmann , who acted as researchers; Evans and his students took 18 months to write a 740-page report, finishing it in the summer of 1999. A short time later, Irving privately approached Penguin and offered to drop them from his lawsuit if they would pull
7800-671: The fairness of a 1938 German plebiscite in which the Nazi regime received 98.8% of the vote. A subject that much engaged Irving and Evans in a debate was a 1942 memo by the Chief of the Reich Chancellory Hans Lammers to the Reich Justice Minister Franz Schlegelberger in which Lammers wrote that Hitler ordered him to put the "Jewish Question" on the "back-burner" until after the war. Evans chose to accept
7920-460: The first "modern historian". The book sold impressively, earning its author a total of about £9000. Biographer Leslie Stephen wrote that thereafter, "His fame was as rapid as it has been lasting." The tumultuous events surrounding the French Revolution inspired much of the historiography and analysis of the early 19th century. Interest in the 1688 Glorious Revolution was also rekindled by
8040-527: The first part. Funke wrote a report for the second and Evans the third. The lawyers for Lipstadt ( Mishcon de Reya ) and Penguin (Davenport Lyons) worked closely, for the most part agreeing on the way to deal with the claim. One minor setback came when Penguin and their lawyers Davenport Lyons were keen that the information provided by the experts they had instructed be incorporated in an amended defence (which Heather Rogers drafted). Initially Mishcon were unpersuaded but Davenport Lyons were insistent, feeling that
8160-465: The focus of historical research in France during the 20th century by stressing long-term social history, rather than political or diplomatic themes. The school emphasized the use of quantification and the paying of special attention to geography. An eminent member of this school, Georges Duby , described his approach to history as one that relegated the sensational to the sidelines and was reluctant to give
8280-496: The goal of an ancient work was often to create political or military paradigms. It was only after the emergence of Christianity that philosophies of history grew in prominence due to the destiny of man from the Christian account. Epics such as Homer 's works were used by historians and considered history even by Thucydides . In the 19th-century historical studies became professionalized at universities and research centers along with
8400-512: The grounds that Lipstadt had falsely labelled him a Holocaust denier and falsely claimed that he had falsified evidence or deliberately misinterpreted it, by which false accusations his reputation as an historian was defamed. Though the author was American, Irving filed his suit in the English High Court, where the burden of proof in libel cases is on the defendant, unlike in the US where the burden
8520-871: The historian uses the "objective historian" standards, they are a "conscientious historian". It was Irving's failure as an "objective historian" not his right-wing views that caused him to lose his libel case, as a "conscientious historian" would not have "deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence" to support his political views. The process of historical analysis involves investigation and analysis of competing ideas, facts, and purported facts to create coherent narratives that explain "what happened" and "why or how it happened". Modern historical analysis usually draws upon other social sciences, including economics , sociology , politics , psychology , anthropology , philosophy , and linguistics . While ancient writers do not normally share modern historical practices, their work remains valuable for its insights within
8640-485: The history of institutional change, particularly the development of constitutional government. William Stubbs 's Constitutional History of England (3 vols., 1874–78) was an important influence on this developing field. The work traced the development of the English constitution from the Teutonic invasions of Britain until 1485, and marked a distinct step in the advance of English historical learning. Karl Marx introduced
8760-535: The illegitimate methods employed by David Irving , as before the Irving v Penguin Books and Lipstadt trial, there was no legal precedent for what constituted an objective historian. Justice Gray leant heavily on the research of one of the expert witnesses, Richard J. Evans , who compared illegitimate distortion of the historical record practiced by Holocaust deniers with established historical methodologies. By summarizing Gray's judgment, in an article published in
8880-431: The interpretation of the memo put forward by Eberhard Jäckel in the 1970s; Irving chose to interpret the memo literally, and taunted Evans, saying "[i]t is a terrible problem, is it not, that we are faced with this tantalizing plate of crumbs and morsels of what should have provided the final smoking gun, and nowhere the whole way through the archives do we find even one item that we do not have to interpret or read between
9000-476: The large crowd assembled, the judge read portions of his written judgment. The written judgment came out to 349 pages. Following an introduction and a discussion of the complaint, more than three-quarters of the written judgment is devoted to an analysis of all the evidence that was presented. Only then does the judge get to his findings on the evidence. The judge deems that "in the course of his prolonged cross-examination, Evans justified each and every one of
9120-534: The late 20th century: historical editing. Edmund Morgan reports on its emergence in the United States: It required, to begin with, large sums of money. But money has proved easier to recruit than talent. Historians who undertake these large editorial projects must leave the main channel of academic life. They do not teach; they do not write their own books; they do not enjoy long vacations for rumination, reflection, and research on whatever topic interests them at
9240-446: The libel barrister, Richard Rampton KC . Penguin also instructed Heather Rogers as junior barrister. Penguin knew that they were going to have to dig deep to defend against Irving's claims. Lipstadt's claims would need to be backed up by experts and Penguin would foot the bill, retaining Professor Richard J. Evans , historian and Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University , as their lead witness. As an expert witness, Evans
9360-454: The lines of, but we do have in the same chain of evidence documents which... quite clearly specifically show Hitler intervening in the other sense?". In response, Evans stated "No, I do not accept that at all. It is because you want to interpret euphemisms as being literal and that is what the whole problem is. Every time there is a euphemism, Mr. Irving... or a camouflage piece of statement or language about Madagascar , you want to treat it as
9480-413: The literal truth, because it serves your purpose of trying to exculpate Hitler. That is part of... the way you manipulate and distort the documents". In 2001, Evans described his impression of Irving after being cross-examined by him as "He [Irving] was a bit like a dim student who didn't listen. If he didn't get the answer he wanted, he just repeated the question." Longerich testified to the meaning of
9600-605: The major progenitors of the history of culture and art , was the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt Burckhardt's best-known work is The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). According to John Lukacs , he was the first master of cultural history, which seeks to describe the spirit and the forms of expression of a particular age, a particular people, or a particular place. By the mid-19th century, scholars were beginning to analyse
9720-479: The media as "history on trial." The response to the verdict was overwhelmingly positive. Some saw the case as a vindication of the UK's strict libel laws. Others noted that Justice Gray "indicated that he did not 'regard it as being a part' of his function 'as the trial judge to make findings of fact as to what did and what did not occur during the Nazi regime in Germany', but he then spent hundreds of pages arguing about his position on such issues," claiming that it
9840-441: The moment. Instead they must live in unremitting daily pursuit of an individual whose company, whatever his genius, may ultimately begin to pall. Anyone who has edited historical manuscripts knows that it requires as much physical and intellectual labor to prepare a text for publication as it does to write a book of one's own. Indeed, the new editorial projects are far too large for one man. The editor-in-chief, having decided to forego
9960-567: The needed function he has abandoned. Irving v Penguin Books Ltd David Irving v Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt is a case in English law against American historian Deborah Lipstadt and her British publisher Penguin Books , filed in the High Court of Justice by the British author David Irving in 1996, asserting that Lipstadt had libelled him in her 1993 book Denying
10080-662: The needs of their times. Out of thousands of Greek and Roman historians, only the tiniest fraction's works survive and it is out of this small pool that ancient historians and ancient historiography are analyzed today. Modern historians of the ancient world have to deal with diverse types of evidence, which are debated more today than in the 19th century due to innovations in the field. Ancient historians were very different from modern historians in terms of goals, documentation, sources, and methods. For instance, chronological systems were not widely used, their sources were often absorbed (traceability of such sources usually disappeared), and
10200-652: The official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 to 481 BCE, is among the earliest surviving Chinese historical texts arranged on annalistic principles. Sima Qian (around 100 BCE) was the first in China to lay the groundwork for professional historical writing. His written work was the Shiji ( Records of the Grand Historian ), a monumental lifelong achievement in literature. Its scope extends as far back as
10320-409: The often euphemistic language used by German officials during the war regarding the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question", and argued that from 1941 onwards, the term "resettlement in the East" was a metaphor for deportation to the death camps. During his exchanges with Irving, Longerich insisted quite firmly that the term "resettlement" was only a euphemism for extermination and nothing more, and used
10440-501: The opinion that Irving "could have been ignored", later wrote "Lipstadt had no choice but to defend herself in court". To succeed with a justification defence , the defence would need to prove as substantially true all of the defamatory claims made by Lipstadt against Irving. The judge understood these claims to be, Lipstadt hired the British solicitor Anthony Julius to present her case. Penguin hired Davenport Lyons libel specialists Kevin Bays and Mark Bateman. Together they briefed
10560-469: The past that constructed history as history of a nation. A new discipline, sociology , emerged in the late 19th century and analyzed and compared these perspectives on a larger scale. The modern academic study of history and methods of historiography were pioneered in 19th-century German universities. Leopold von Ranke was a pivotal influence in this regard, and is considered as the founder of modern source-based history . Specifically, he implemented
10680-435: The past, the sensibility which studies the past 'for the sake of the past', which delights in the concrete and the complex, which 'goes out to meet the past', which searches for 'unlikenesses between past and present'." Butterfield's formulation received much attention, and the kind of historical writing he argued against in generalised terms is no longer academically respectable. The French Annales School radically changed
10800-455: The phenomenon of Holocaust denial and referred to David Irving as a prominent Holocaust denier. One of the passages Irving later objected to was: Irving is one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial. Familiar with historical evidence, he bends it until it conforms with his ideological leanings and political agenda. A man who is convinced that Britain's great decline was accelerated by its decision to go to war with Germany, he
10920-438: The publishers. Defamatory words are presumed under English law to be untrue. It is not incumbent on defendants to prove the truth of every detail of the defamatory words published: what has to be proved is the substantial truth of the defamatory imputations published about the claimant. As it is sometimes expressed, what must be proved is the truth of the sting of the defamatory charges made. Irving's decision to file his lawsuit in
11040-550: The reality of the Holocaust) by replying: "We are still discovering things about the Roman Empire. There is no last chapter in history." Browning countered Irving's argument that the lack of a written Führer order proves the alleged non-occurrence of the Holocaust by arguing that, although no such order was ever written down, Hitler had almost certainly made statements to his leading subordinates indicating his wishes in regards to
11160-553: The rise of Rome from city-state to empire . His speculation about what would have happened if Alexander the Great had marched against Rome represents the first known instance of alternate history . In Chinese historiography , the Classic of History is one of the Five Classics of Chinese classic texts and one of the earliest narratives of China. The Spring and Autumn Annals ,
11280-405: The rise of constitutional government , personal freedoms , and scientific progress . The term has been also applied widely in historical disciplines outside of British history (the history of science , for example) to criticize any teleological (or goal-directed), hero-based, and transhistorical narrative. Butterfield's antidote to Whig history was "...to evoke a certain sensibility towards
11400-478: The roles on other groups. Gender biases as well. Moral or worldview evaluations by historians are also seen partly inevitable, causing complications for historians and their historical writings. One way to deal with this is for historians to state their biases explicitly for their readers. In the modern era, newspapers (which have a bias of their own) impacts historical accounts made by historians. Misplaced Pages also contributes to difficulties for historians. During
11520-665: The same time, philosopher David Hume was having a similar impact on history in Great Britain . In 1754, he published the History of England , a six-volume work that extended from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688. Hume adopted a similar scope to Voltaire in his history; as well as the history of Kings, Parliaments, and armies, he examined the history of culture, including literature and science, as well. William Robertson ,
11640-448: The seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and analysis of historical documents. Beginning with his first book in 1824, the History of the Latin and Teutonic Peoples from 1494 to 1514 , Ranke used an unusually wide variety of sources for a historian of the age, including "memoirs, diaries, personal and formal missives, government documents, diplomatic dispatches and first-hand accounts of eye-witnesses". Over
11760-449: The shaping of historical events. The apex of Enlightenment history was reached with Edward Gibbon 's, monumental six-volume work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , published on 17 February 1776. Because of its relative objectivity and heavy use of primary sources , at the time its methodology became a model for later historians. This has led to Gibbon being called
11880-719: The spot, proved that her criticism of him in Denying the Holocaust was invalid and he handed out free copies of his Göring biography to Lipstadt's students. On 5 September 1996, Irving filed a libel suit concerning Lipstadt's book in English court. He named in his suit Lipstadt and Penguin Books , whose Plume division had published a British edition of her book. Irving also sued Holocaust historian Gitta Sereny for libel for an article she had written about him entitled "Spin Time for Hitler" in The Observer newspaper on 21 April 1996, although
12000-424: The standard Daubert tests unless a court was given "a great deal of assistance from historians". Schneider proposes that by testing a historian against the criteria of the "objective historian" then, even if a historian holds specific political views (and she gives an example of a well-qualified historian's testimony that was disregarded by a United States court because he was a member of a feminist group), providing
12120-491: The statement by the American historian Arno J. Mayer , who Irving went to pains to point out was both a Marxist and a man who would have been considered Jewish in Nazi racial theory, in his 1988 book Why Did the Heavens Not Darken? , that most of the people who died at Auschwitz were the victims of disease rather than murder. In response, Peter Longerich argued that Mayer did not deny the Holocaust in his book, and that he
12240-561: The term Renaissance (meaning "Re-birth" in French language ), as a period in Europe's cultural history that represented a break from the Middle Ages, creating a modern understanding of humanity and its place in the world. The nineteen-volume work covered French history from Charlemagne to the outbreak of the Revolution . Michelet was one of the first historians to shift the emphasis of history to
12360-508: The terms being that the book be withdrawn from circulation, both parties apologise and (each) make a £500 donation. Lipstadt instructed her lawyers to reject the offer. Irving later claimed without evidence that Penguin wanted to settle the case (not specifying whether this applied to one of his two "offers" or both of them) and were somehow pressured by Dr. Lipstadt not to; D. D. Guttenplan 's book outlined how Penguin dismissed Irving for several reasons, including contempt for him and dismay over
12480-466: The time, but by 1991 when I came across the Eichmann papers, I wasn't saying that anymore and I wouldn't say that now. The Nazis did murder millions of Jews." Upon hearing of Irving's sentence, Lipstadt said, "I am not happy when censorship wins, and I don't believe in winning battles via censorship... The way of fighting Holocaust deniers is with history and with truth." The case was often referred to by
12600-518: The treatment of the Jews; that he is an active Holocaust denier; that he is anti-Semitic and racist, and that he associates with right-wing extremists who promote neo-Nazism... therefore the defence of justification succeeds... It follows that there must be judgment for the Defendants. Irving subsequently appealed to the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal . On 20 July 2001, his application for appeal
12720-446: The trial was viewed by Washington Post reporter T. R. Reid and included clips of both Lipstadt and Irving. In December 2000, an episode of PBS 's Nova , entitled "Holocaust on Trial", focused on the case. Produced concurrently with the actual trial, the programme's production staff frequently visited the courtroom. As video cameras were not allowed in the courtroom, the events in the trial were re-enacted for television. Irving
12840-469: The two of them were on "a joint journey of exploration and discovery." Robert Jan van Pelt , an architectural historian, was engaged by the defence as an expert witness. He prepared a 700-page report, in which he examined the evidence for the existence of the gas chambers at Auschwitz. He also defended himself on cross-examination. Irving floundered against van Pelt's deep knowledge of the mechanics of Auschwitz Birkenau. Rampton and van Pelt had bonded on
12960-632: The work of several different writers: it was started during the reign of Alfred the Great in the late ninth century, but one copy was still being updated in 1154. Muslim historical writings first began to develop in the seventh century, with the reconstruction of the Prophet Muhammad 's life in the centuries following his death. With numerous conflicting narratives regarding Muhammad and his companions from various sources, scholars had to verify which sources were more reliable. To evaluate these sources, they developed various methodologies, such as
13080-403: The world. What constitutes history is a philosophical question (see philosophy of history ). The earliest chronologies date back to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt , though no historical writers in these early civilizations were known by name. Systematic historical thought emerged in ancient Greece , a development that became an important influence on the writing of history elsewhere around
13200-670: Was an important influence on this developing field. He took a comparative topical approach to independent civilizations and demonstrated that they displayed striking parallels in their origin, growth, and decay. William H. McNeill wrote The Rise of the West (1965) to improve upon Toynbee by showing how the separate civilizations of Eurasia interacted from the very beginning of their history, borrowing critical skills from one another, and thus precipitating still further change as adjustment between traditional old and borrowed new knowledge and practice became necessary. A new advanced specialty opened in
13320-500: Was coined by Herbert Butterfield in his short book The Whig Interpretation of History in 1931, (a reference to the British Whigs , advocates of the power of Parliament ) to refer to the approach to historiography that presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater liberty and enlightenment , culminating in modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy . In general, Whig historians emphasized
13440-436: Was denied by Lords Justices Pill , Mantell, and Buxton . In light of the evidence presented at the trial, a number of Irving's works that had previously escaped serious scrutiny were brought to public attention. He was also liable to pay all of the substantial costs of the trial (between one and two million pounds ), which ruined him financially and forced him into bankruptcy in 2002. In 2006, Irving pleaded guilty to
13560-490: Was easy and that learning how to do research was the main mission. A critical experience for graduate students is having a mentor who will provide psychological, social, intellectual and professional support, while directing scholarship and providing an introduction to the profession. Professional historians typically work in colleges and universities, archival centers, government agencies, museums, and as freelance writers and consultants. The job market for new PhDs in history
13680-682: Was expected to prepare a report and to be cross-examined. Also working as expert witnesses were the American Holocaust historian Christopher Browning , the German historian Peter Longerich , the Dutch architectural expert Robert Jan van Pelt and the Political Science Professor Hajo Funke [ de ] of the Free University of Berlin . The legal strategy was to Van Pelt, Browning and Longerich were assigned to
13800-452: Was hired by the defence to serve as an expert witness. Evans spent two years examining Irving's work, and presented evidence of Irving's misrepresentations, including evidence that Irving had knowingly used forged documents as source material. Of utmost importance was the role played by another expert witness for the defence, the Holocaust historian Christopher Browning . Upon mutual agreement,
13920-448: Was played by British actor John Castle . A team of historians were employed to gather the material necessary for the episode. The programme was almost completed when the verdict for the real trial was handed down. It also featured interviews with David Cesarani , Raul Hilberg , Richard Breitman , Richard Overy and Hugh Trevor-Roper . The rights to adapt the story of the trial into a film were optioned by Participant Media . A script
14040-471: Was published until 2001. When the latter was published, as a result of the threat of legal action by Irving, the passages containing the criticism of Irving's historical methods were expunged by the publisher, to the disappointment of many reviewers. In her book, Denying the Holocaust , Lipstadt called Irving a Holocaust denier and falsifier, as well as a bigot, and wrote that he manipulated and distorted real documents. Irving claimed to have been libelled on
14160-402: Was simply wrong about more Jews dying of "natural" as opposed to "unnatural" causes of death at Auschwitz. Irving also subpoenaed the diplomatic historian Donald Cameron Watt and the military historian John Keegan to testify in his case against Lipstadt; both men had refused an earlier offer to testify for Irving on their own and appeared to be very reluctant on the stand. Rather than focus on
14280-449: Was the overly-strict libel laws that forced a judge to determine historical fact. In 2005, C-SPAN planned to cover Dr. Lipstadt's book on the trial, History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving via its Book TV programme, but the cable network was heavily criticized when it was revealed that they had planned to put together a de facto debate between Dr. Lipstadt and Irving, by airing
14400-399: Was written by David Hare. In April 2015, it was reported that Hilary Swank and Tom Wilkinson had signed on to portray Deborah Lipstadt and David Irving in a feature film about the 2000 trial. In November 2015, Rachel Weisz joined the cast of the film (replacing Swank) along with Timothy Spall , who would play Irving while Wilkinson would play Richard Rampton . Bleecker Street released
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