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Peter Charles Hoffer

Past Imperfect: Facts, Fictions, and Fraud in the Writing of American History Hardcover – October 12, 2004

by Peter Charles Hoffer (Author)

4.4 52 ratings

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Woodrow Wilson, a practicing academic historian before he took to politics, defined the importance of history: "A nation which does not know what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today." He, like many men of his generation, wanted to impose a version of America's founding identity: it was a land of the free and a home of the brave. But not the braves. Or the slaves. Or the disenfranchised women. So the history of Wilson's generation omitted a significant proportion of the population in favor of a perspective that was predominantly white, male and Protestant.

That flaw would become a fissure and eventually a schism. A new history arose which, written in part by radicals and liberals, had little use for the noble and the heroic, and that rankled many who wanted a celebratory rather than a critical history. To this combustible mixture of elements was added the flame of public debate. History in the 1990s was a minefield of competing passions, political views and prejudices. It was dangerous ground, and, at the end of the decade, four of the nation's most respected and popular historians were almost destroyed by it: Michael Bellesiles, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Stephen Ambrose and Joseph Ellis.

This is their story, set against the wider narrative of the writing of America's history. It may be, as Flaubert put it, that "Our ignorance of history makes us libel our own times." To which he could have added: falsify, plagiarize and politicize, because that's the other story of America's history.

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Publisher

PublicAffairs
Publication date

October 12, 2004
Dimensions

6.5 x 1 x 9.75 inches
ISBN-10

1586482440
ISBN-13

978-1586482442
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An adviser to the American Historical Association on plagiarism, Hoffer focuses on the four most notorious recent cases of professional historical misconduct in this useful and reasonably argued study: Michael Bellesiles's manufacturing of data in Arming America; Joseph Ellis's fabrication of a fraudulent Vietnam-era past for himself; and the documented plagiarisms of Doris Kearns Goodwin and Stephen Ambrose. In the case of Goodwin, historian Hoffer, of the University of Georgia, cites not only the much-written-about instances of copying in The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys but also the L.A. Times's investigative work showing that Goodwin plagiarized from books by Joseph Lash, Grace Tully (Franklin Roosevelt's secretary) and Hugh Gregory Gallagher when cobbling together her Pulitzer Prize–winning No Ordinary Time. With regard to Ambrose, Hoffer goes back to the historian's earliest works to document an apparently lifelong pattern of word theft. In the end, Hoffer sees the sins of Bellesiles (falsifying research data) and Ellis (lying to students and the press about his personal history) as in a different and smaller league. Hoffer examines these cases in the broader context of the professionalization of history, the battle between academic and popular history, and professional standards. Those concerned with the integrity and future of the field will find this analysis illuminating.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"What emerges ... are ... [Hoffer's] love for his discipline and his grief for the losses it has sustained." -- Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2004

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ PublicAffairs; First Edition (October 12, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1586482440
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1586482442
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 9.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,302,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #966 in Historiography (Books)
- #47,102 in United States History (Books)

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4.4 52 ratings

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Insightful & Enjoyable history of historical writing

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2007

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In an effort to provide a history of historical writing, Peter Hoffer has taken an unusual approach - looking at scandals that have plagued historical scholarship in the very recent past, but comparing that against the earliest histories of our nation.

Hoffer gives the reader a good, strong understanding of the different schools of historiography (i.e. consensus history, neo-consensus, and "new" history). He then explains how the "new" history led to a rise in popular history and the conversion of four academics into the realm of popular history, which nearly destroyed all of them.

The cases of Stephen Ambrose, Michael Bellesiles, Joseph Ellis, and Doris Kearns-Goodwin all share one thing in common - they are associated with a lack of careful historical scholarship and, in some cases, outright fraud. Hoffer provides the reader with an insightful look at the sins committed by these four historians and explains why the transgressions were so significant, even if the errors made by the historian were in the classroom and not in the written text.

This is a valuable book, and one that all students of history should read. It is enjoyable and teaches us valuable lessons about how a failure to be careful can spell disaster or doom for a historians' career.

6 people found this helpful

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Wonderful!

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2021

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An excellent, well-written book about how a lifetime of historical research can go horribly wrong for even the best-intentioned professionals. Riveting stories.

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2021

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Benny Smith Is Dead Wrong

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2005

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Regarding the Bellesiles affair: The Yale Law Review, The William and Mary Quarterly, Columbia University and countless other reputable sources have destroyed Bellesiles' claims. He resigned from Emory before he could be fired, his grant at the Newberry Library was revoked, his Bancroft Prize was rescinded (the first time this happened in the history of the prize) and Knopf and Assoc. Publishers stopped publication of his embarrassing attempt at false scholorship. It's very telling that the paperback issue of 'Arming America' (from a small publisher) has somehow misplaced over 8,000 sources cited in the removed Knopf version.

Back on topic, this is a pretty good book detailing how the new history book publishing mills work today.

9 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

I do enjoy his liberal take on things

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2018

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This book is full of so many names drops that I am constantly confused as to what he’s tlakkng about and find myself googling random names and terms more than I do actually reading the book. I do enjoy his liberal take on things, but unless you’re a recognized historian yourself, this might not be a fun read.

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william sosnowsky

An important resource.

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2018

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Shows that history is used to deceive — and what historians do to combat it.

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Sopko, Stephen Michael

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2015

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Would definitely recommend this to those who are in or interested in the Historical profession.

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Art Shapiro

Was Henry Ford right?

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2022

Everyone knows that Henry Ford said "History is bunk." Except what he really said, in a Chicago Tribune interview in 1916 was "History is more or less bunk." Does this seemingly minor qualification make any difference? Does it matter how much of history is bunk?
It all depends on the cultural context.
There is a feedback loop between how people learn history and how they want it taught. There are several take-homes from this book:
1. There is no such thing as "objective" history. History is written by human beings and human beings have beliefs and attitudes (which may lie below the level of consciousness). Those beliefs and attitudes may be traceable to how the child was reared, what his or her personal experiences have been, whether he or she was breast-fed and what his or her genetic endowment looks like. But in any case, absolute objectivity is impossible for human beings.
2. How American history is perceived and presented is inextricably tied to the ethnic and class background of the presenter. American history was once the preserve of WASP elites. Then it came to be dominated by progressive Jews, and its sociocultural evolution continues. Different backgrounds lead to distinct styles of historiography.
3. There is a deep gulf between popular history--written for the general reader, without extensive footnotes--and scholarly history, with its full professional armamentum. Popular histories are widely reviewed and read, become best-sellers, and exert broad cultural influence. Professionals publishing for other professionals can only hope their conclusions ultimately influence the popularizers. Sometimes they do; sometimes they don't.
4. Like all scholarship, historical scholarship is grounded in an ethical framework. The extent to which popular history is bound to that framework is contested. Some of our best-known popular historians have been tainted by charges of plagiarism (which by and large have not sullied their popular reputations, or hurt their book sales). There are a few more serious cases involving the insertion of fabricated or dubious material in the author's narrative. It is not clear that such misconduct is more frequent in history than in other disciplines, but it can be harder to uncover. Finally, there is the issue of exploitation of students as research assistants, credited or not. Hoffer thinks this is more of a problem in history than in the sciences. As an academic scientist, I am not sure I agree. It's a problem all over.
So how much of history is bunk? The admonition "caveat lector" always applies. When I was in Argentina--an experience I constantly use as a touchstone vis-a-vis the USA-- I had ample opportunity to read "history" from a Peronist viewpoint. It was mostly bunk. Things could in fact be much worse than they are.

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