Modern Germany Reconsidered 1870-1945
Modern Germany Reconsidered 1870-1945
Routledge | 2003 | ISBN: 0415078121 | English | 297 pages | PDF | 3 MB
This is the second collection of ‘Reconsiderations’, the first of which dealt with A.J.P.Taylor’s Origins of the Second World War. The aim of the present book, like the first one, is fairly simple: to serve undergraduate students taking courses in the history of modern Germany. The origins of the first book reveal how this ambition was conceived and realized: in an attempt to demonstrate R.G.Collingwood’s concept of ‘secondary history’ to a class of first-year history students, I had them read A.J.P.Taylor’s Origins and then look at a series of reviews, articles and books written on the subject since he wrote. This experiment proved to be a great success, as students were challenged by his provocative interpretation and eager to see how professionally trained historians reacted to it. Thus, both the nature and the value of historical debates were demonstrated to students who could also test Collingwood’s hypothesis that it was the secondary history of a subject with which one should begin.