Writing History: A Guide for Students [Paperback]

William Kelleher Storey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0195122208 | ISBN-13: 978-0195122206

Bringing together practical methods from both history and composition, Writing History provides students with a wealth of tips and advice on the ways professional historians write. A simple, concise manual, it covers all aspects of writing about history, including finding topics and researching them, interpreting source materials, drawing inferences from sources, and constructing arguments. Using numerous examples from the work of cultural, political, and social historians, it deals with the history of every continent and serves as an ideal supplement to all history courses where writing is required. The volume is further enhanced by three closing chapters that discuss writing effective sentences, using precise wording, and revising. It also features a glossary of usage focusing on the special needs of history writers.
Addressing the problems that all historians face when writing, Writing History is a perfect guide for graduate and undergraduate history students in need of writing advice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Concise and up-to-date. Well organized and structured. Can be used as a narrative text or a guide reference manual. An excellent resource for introductory students."--R.H. Limbaugh, University of the Pacific

"A concise summary of information that students need in order to write traditional history."--Kathleen Hedberg, Idaho State University

"A good text or reference for a writing class. I like the concise nature of the work and its organization into small topical sections. It is written in an approachable style that should put anxious undergraduates at ease."--John S. Ellis, Boston College

"A wonderful introductory guide that every history major should have."--Paul Russell, Anna Mavia College

"The perfect guidebook for the student just beginning to write 'perfect' research papers. I wish I had had this book when I was an undergraduate student!"--Anthony P. DiPerna, Molloy College

"A very useful text for my seniors writing their senior theses. It offers practical advice both on the mechanics of writing and the less quantifiable creative elements of doing history. Its brevity is perfect for my seminar because it offers useful information without bogging down the students."--Julia Sneeringer Beloit College

"Speaks to students' needs. It offers a holistic view of the process."--Peter G. Wallace, Hartwick College

"Meets the needs of our majors....Each chapter is useful for our course of study. Excerpts from many sources are useful models."--Mary Lauranne Lifka, Lewis University

"The excellent outline form and clear instruction will be wonderful for our history students. I hope they will read, learn, and continue writing after reading this book."--James B. Tueller, Brigham Young University-Hawaii Campus

"Brief, excellent, to the point."--Albert Erlebacher, Professor Emeritus, DePaul University

About the Author

William Kelleher Storey, Preceptor in Expository Writing, Harvard University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 12, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195122208
• ISBN-13: 978-0195122206
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,028,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Kelleher Storey is Professor of History and Chair of the History Department at Millsaps College, where he has taught since 1999. Storey teaches classes about African History, World History, and the British Empire.

Storey was born in New York City in 1965 and grew up on Long Island. He graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1983 and went on to earn his bachelor's degree in history at Harvard University in 1987. He completed his master's degree in history in 1990 at the Johns Hopkins University, where he received his doctorate in 1993. After finishing his formal studies in history, Bill received further training during two postdoctoral fellowships. In 1994-5 he was an NSF Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University. From 1995 to 1997 he was a Preceptor in Expository Writing at Harvard University.

Professor Storey has a special interest in the history of environmental change, science, and technology. He is the author of four books. Two of them are based on research about environmental and technological aspects of imperialism: Guns, Race, and Power in Colonial South Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2008) and Science and Power in Colonial Mauritius (University of Rochester Press, 1997). He is also the author of Writing History: A Guide for Students (Oxford University Press, 1999; 2nd ed. 2003; 3rd ed. 2009), which draws on his undergraduate teaching about historical writing. His most recent book, The First World War: A Concise Global History (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009) is based on a class that he teaches in the Core Curriculum at Millsaps. Storey is currently in the early stages of writing a biography of Cecil Rhodes from an environmental and technological perspective.

Storey has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship (1992), plus grants from the American Historical Association (1993); the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (1997); the Mellon Foundation (2005); and the National Endowment for the Humanities (2004). The Society for the History of Technology has awarded him the Abbot Payson Usher Prize for the year's best journal article (2005) and the Sidney M. Edelstein Prize for the year's best book (2009). He has also received the Outstanding Young Faculty Award from Millsaps College (2003) and a Teaching Award from the Mississippi Humanities Council (2006).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ideal for advanced undergraduate students of history, March 26, 2000

By 

J. Nicoletta "nicoletta" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Writing History: A Guide for Students (Paperback)

Storey, developed this text for a writing program at Harvard. A historian by training, Storey does an excellent job of describing basic and advanced research and writing techniques. His text is succinct and lively, filled with well chosen examples. If you have ever wondered about the difference between a primary and secondary source or how to deal with contradictory evidence, this is the book for you. I assign it in my writing courses.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple intro, December 13, 2005

By 

Will (Army, All over) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writing History: A Guide for Students (Paperback)

This book is fairly short (111 pgs with not a lot of print on them,) but is a great introduction to writing for history classes. It doesn't go into lots of detail, it is very basic.
It was helpful in figuring out "What on earth should I write about?" "How do I make a thesis?" all the way to finishing a history paper.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Succinct and Fun, August 8, 2008

By 

Karen S. Garvin (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Writing History: A Guide for Students (Paperback)

For those of you who don't want to suffer from grammar overload, I highly recommend this volume. The book is fairly short, but each chapter offers the basic information needed to write your history paper. Additionally, Storey's writing style is light, and in some places quite humorous -- which is a pleasant bonus in a writing manual. Each chapter is broken down into nice, small sections that can be read in a few minutes each. This is great if you have a lot of small breaks during the day instead of one large chunk of study time. The book is not a chore to read.

Storey's book is an excellent first book for someone who wants to write about history, although it does not get very deep into the subject. For theories of historiography you'll need to look at other books. Also, this book won't replace your grammar manual or stylebook. Think of it as your first stop.