The Book After The Fact Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Book After The Fact - Essay Example Whether for a historical methods course or for an introductory survey, this book is the perfect text to introduce readers, stepwise, to the analytical approaches and detective work that historians use when they are actually doing history. The authors of the book are both are both history professors and historians who have specialized in American history and they draw their work from the history of the USA to provide illustrations of the ideas they are interested in describing. Each chapter of the book is dedicated to an individual detection technique that can be applied in depth to explore and renovate past events. The main idea behind the book is communicated in an extensive introduction that looks at the life of an 18th C diplomat called Silas Deane, whose death was nothing less than mysterious death (Davidson and Mark, 88). The book illustrates how historical investigation is equivalent to the seemingly more exciting detective work used to solve mysterious in tv, movies and real l ife. I must say that; through this work, we are able to uncover the truth of what happened in the past. The authors take people and/or events in the USA history and write chapters on the events representing techniques and methods used in writing and studying history. To some people this may seem boring- but fact is, it is not. The reality is an interesting look at events- some known other not clear- that reminds us that good narratives are required for good history and historians must use numerous diverse techniques and methods to get the information they require to completely and appropriately write the narratives. In chapter one, the authors examine the significance of the selection of evidence even if its real importance may not appear understandable at first. The authors focus on early settlement of Virginia as an example. The Virginia settlement is a vital historical subject in America especially because it is one of the earliest English settlements in the United States of Amer ica. Until today, there is still a good deal of written description about Virginia settlement that survives despite the fact that much of the written records about the settlement have been lost (Davidson and Mark, 9). The most remembered historical account is that of Captain John smith, whose swashbuckling tale gives emphasis to his own involvement and importance. Smith witnessed a Native American ritual of some form and described it in writing. As demonstrated by the authors, Smith’s account, however, was given in terms that were similar to him and would have been familiar to his readers. Unknown to him was the intended meaning of the traditional roles and ritual of the people involved. Some other prove is found in the dry accounts of financial transactions and court decisions, which include an order necessitating Virginia settlers to plant at least two acres of corn while at the same time forbidding them from burning hay to dry tobacco. If you have read this book, then you will certainly agree with me that it is possible to know truth about the past historical events. History is a very interesting that every person should fall in love with. The chapters in the book combine one incident and one aspect on the way historians go about doing what they love best-history. For example, the chapter of the Salem witch trials tells us a rather interesting story while at the some time introducing the reader painlessly to the historical perceptions of community dynamics, demographics, multiple causations, and the status of women in the 17th C New England (Davidson and