AHR Forum Essay
The Century as a Historical Period

Periodization is a primary tool of historians. Marking off chunks of time as distinctive eras with some kind of internal coherence or characteristic quality is a fundamental way we organize the past. Periodization schemes also provoke constant debate and contention. They are always subject to revision. This AHR Forum Essay tackles the difficult but critical issue of periodization by proposing ways to think about whether or not the recently ended twentieth century should constitute a separate historical epoch. Charles S. Maier frames the discussion by analyzing various narratives that can be used to demarcate the twentieth century as a historical period. He also suggests the implications of narrative choices for our understanding of the century and of periodization itself. Maier invites responses to his argument.	1
And so do we. This Forum is the third installment of a format in which we solicit comments from readers rather than commission responses to be published along with the essay. This time, we take advantage of the new online AHR to open the discussion even further. We will to host a moderated electronic discussion between Maier and those who wish comment on his essay. The discussion will take place September 4–18. Participants can send questions or comments of up to 700 words. Guidelines will be posted on the discussion sign-in page. Our primary goals for the discussion are to make the exchanges as open and useful as possible and to ensure that they comply with the established standards of the AHR. The discussion site can be found in the electronic version of the June 2000 issue at /. After the discussion has concluded, the exchanges will become a permanent part of the electronic version of this Forum Essay. Questions about the Forum can be sent to the American Historical Review, 914 E. Atwater Ave., Bloomington, IN 47405 or to our e-mail address: ahr@indiana.edu.	2

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