Practicing History: Selected Essays

By Barbara W. Tuchman

Celebrated for bringing a personal touch to history in her Pulitzer Prize–winning epic The Guns of August and other classic books, Barbara W. Tuchman reflects on world events and the historian’s craft in these perceptive, essential essays.
 
From thoughtful pieces on the historian’s role to striking insights into America’s past and present to trenchant observations on the international scene, Barbara W. Tuchman looks at history in a unique way and draws lessons from what she sees. Spanning more than four decades of writing in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Harper’s, The Nation, and The Saturday Evening Post, Tuchman weighs in on a range of eclectic topics, from Israel and Mao Tse-tung to a Freudian reading of Woodrow Wilson. This is a splendid body of work, the story of a lifetime spent “practicing history.”
 
Praise for Practicing History
 
“Persuades and enthralls . . . I can think of no better primer for the nonexpert who wishes to learn history.”—Chicago Sun-Times
 
“Provocative, consistent, and beautifully readable, an event not to be missed by history buffs.”—Baltimore Sun
 
“A delight to read.”—The New York Times Book Review

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jul 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307798558

Reviews for Practicing History

[msaucier818 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really loved this book of essays by Barbara Tuchman. The early essays discussing the practice of the writing of history were outstanding. It makes me want to leave my job teaching high school history and become a researcher and writer of history. I could not have enjoyed those essays more. The later essays are all pulled from magazine and newspaper writings (as well as transcripts of speeches) of Tuchman, and they deal with historical events, current political events of her time, book reviews, etc... I loved reading her opinions and how she based them all in history. She was not afraid to give her thoughts and she backed them up forcefully and persuasively. I wish she were still alive today, although I am fairly certain that she would not appreciate the lack of leadership she would see from our government over the past two decades.

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unlike Nero Wolfe of West Thirty Fifth Street by William Baring-Gould, which I believe should be read after completing the Rex Stout mysteries, Practicing History should be read before Tuchman's other books. The first part of Practicing History, "The Craft," is Tuchman's way of explaining how she wrote her books without giving too much away. She makes it possible to look forward to reading The March of Folly and Proud Tower with anticipation.The second part of Practicing History, called "The Yield" presents various topics from different articles she has written over the years (Japan, the Spanish Civil War, Woodrow Wilson and the Six-Day War in the middle east). The third and final part of Practicing History includes editorials on the Vietnam War, Watergate and how we can learn from history if one would only listen. We have a hard time doing that as a nation. Why start now?Tuchman always writes with sharp wit and humor. Practicing History is no different and does not disappoint.

[jeterat-844391 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed this book of essays of Barbara Tuchman covering the breadth of her career and primarily focusing on the purpose of history in day-to-day life. A great look at the thoughts of a historian and some of political articles she had written for various national magazines.

[jbgusa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The introduction is a "must read" for anyone seriously interested in history. She explains how writing history should be from a certain amount of hindsight. I may add to this review later, and just raised my rating from three to four stores based on my own hindsight view of the book.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I read Tuchman’s books in high school and had vague memories of them. She’s really into telling coherent stories, but mostly what I got from this essay collection was: wow, she was pretty racist. I especially liked how the Japanese (“Orientals”) were congenitally incapable of negotiating fairly because they refused to accept facts, whereas Israelis were so successful because they refused to accept facts.

[keywestnan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you're interested in writing history -- or just interested in how historians work -- this is a wonderful essay collection. Although Tuchman worked in the era of index cards, not laptops, she makes digging through archives and reading barely legible manuscripts sound like enthralling work.

[jcbrunner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This collection of essays is divided into three parts. The first and in my view the best part, based mostly upon speeches, deals with "the craft" of the historian. It offers both insights into her research and writing process and a vigorous defense of history as literature. She justly highlights the importance and her mission of communicating about history with the general public. Thus, she nicely undermines the charge of many academic historians who did not like the intrusion of a non-expert stealing all the(ir?) glory and profiting from their work. What use, however, are their findings if nobody but the anointed knows about them?The second part "the yield" collects various book reviews and articles, some standing the test of time, some showing their age. The third part "learning from history" is about politics, Nixon and the Vietnam War. Ideas that led to "The March of Folly", a book which has regained relevance (I wished more people had read it before 2003.).Tuchman is a child of privilege, her grandfather being US ambassador, her uncle US secretary of treasury. Her father owned the magazine on which she was a staff reporter. Her writing is at its best when she writes about the spleens and foibles of her class. This makes The Proud Tower, the Guns of August, the Zimmermann Telegram and Stilwell so vivid. In this collection, she expands and escapes her traditional topics - which reveals, at times, a lack of empathy for others less privileged, others different from her. To me, these essays show a prissy and self-absorbed person (light-years away from the humanity of a Studs Terkel). I love her writing, her personality not so much.