A Preface to History

By Carl G. Gustavson

Book Overview

History, Comparative History, Historic Studies This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0070252793
• ISBN13: 9780070252790
• Release Date: January 1955
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 222 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.5" x 5.5"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Great on HOW to study history

Gustavson does a great job of teaching the reader how to study history. While there are more modern thoughts on this topic, Gustavson's book survives a half century of being read and teaching budding historians. If you have a desire to understand how to read a history book, while reading a pretty good one itself (Gustavson has an eclectic mix of historical references).

A landmark book

Gustavson's book is best read before reading the standard college history texts, because he shows the reader how to think about history and place its diverse events in context. Some chapter titles are "The Nature of Social Forces", "The Institutional Factor", "Revolution", "The Bases of Loyalty", "The Individual in History", "The Role of Ideas", and "Power". Gustavson's style is light, entertaining, and readable. The content and conclusions are enormously powerful and far-reaching. "Revolution" should be required reading at the State Department. Buy this book. Pay whaterever you have to to own it. One caution for the modern reader: The book contains no charts, no graphs, and no pictures. Like no other book I've encountered, it does contain a broad context for understanding the past and, consequently, the present and the future.

Must reading for nascent historians

Gustavson's work is an excellent primer for freshmen struggling through Western Civ or even more experienced students of history in search of a deeper understanding of the historical forces that shape our world. Gustavson examines these forces in each chapter and provides historical examples that bring the ideas into focus. With considerable wit and a sophisticated mind, Gustavson created a work that will stand the test of time...a considerable achievement for a historian.