The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide [Paperback]

Conal Furay (Author), Michael J. Salevouris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2000 | ISBN-10: 0882959824 | ISBN-13: 978-0882959825 | Edition: 2 Sub

Like its best-selling predecessor, the second edition of this book combines theory with 'hands on' practice, providing engaging exercises that make history more accessible to majors and non-majors alike, helping students learn to think historically while at the same time strengthening their critical-thinking and communication skills. This dynamic workbook has been thoughtfully redesigned from a discussion of the nature of history to confronting historical accounts to actually 'doing' history. A final section discusses historiography and history's relationship to other academic disciplines. With more systematic attention to writing skills throughout, this new edition also offers a series of 'Writing Capsules' focused on techniques of organisation and forming coherent paragraphs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Conal Furay and Michael Salevouris

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harlan Davidson; 2 Sub edition (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882959824
• ISBN-13: 978-0882959825
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #860,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adaptable to all student levels, October 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide (Paperback)

I've used this book for years now for both undergraduates and graduates, with great success. The new 2000 edition is even better (except for a too-brief section on films as historical sources.) The updating with regard to libraries is especially good, and the section on statistics is appropriately demanding. The essay assignment based upon the Missouri Fur Trade readily uncovers problems and personal bias in students' work. Though written for undergrads, this guide is excellent for new grad students as a way of identifying weaknesses and building consistent skills. I require graduate students to probe more deeply in responding to the exercises, and they all agree it is a great workbook, even though it seems too basic to them at first glance!

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful if limited; we need more like it, July 26, 2005

By 

Patrick Rael - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide (Paperback)

Used this in an undergraduate class at a good liberal arts school. Many students found the workbook exercises simplistic. I like it, though, because it illustrates practical history skills using real historical examples. I am aware of no other book that does this. I particularly like the emphasis on the research process (lots of emphasis on looping back between research and writing), and analytical skills (where making categories looms large). My recommendation is to use the chapters loosely, adapting them to your own needs. When I use it again, I will use the material provided as the basis for more substantive short writing assignments.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History Major, Taught by Author, Great Book for Students, February 20, 2011

By 

E. Reeves (Sayreville, NJ) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide (Paperback)

I love this book and will be keeping it for a long time. I'm a history major and am currently taking a Research Methods class at Webster University. My professor Michael J Salevouris (who is the author of this book) is very good at teaching and helping us practice methods of historical writing. There are many activities and writing exercises in the book, its easy and well written and covers different methods of historical detection. A must-have for anyone writing a history research paper or history majors in general. Also a good reference for many other majors when writing a research paper.

Also, another good book to read along with this one, and one that we frequently use in class is After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection