| Review | The History Teacher, 38.1 | The History Cooperative

Review

Navigating World History: Historians Create a Global Past, by Patrick Manning. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003. 384 pages, $79.95 cloth, $26.95 paper.

The engines propelling the rapidly growing field of world history are in certain respects above and below the instructors teaching it: students want to know where their world of great diversity came from, while administrators want to create "relevant" curricula. Fortunately, compared to the vacuous "current events" programs often foisted on K-12 schools or the myopically present-minded requirements at some colleges and universities, well done world history is both relevant and academically legitimate. Its growth, however, has placed an extraordinary challenge on the instructors and professors asked to do the teaching, few of whom have had real training in it. For many, their best claim to being qualified is, in addition to their general preparation to teach social studies or history, one course, possibly many years ago, fulfilling a distribution requirement for their history major or, if they went to graduate school recently, an MA requirement or a doctoral "outside field" on some region other than their specialization. In my experience, instructors' reluctance to teach world history stems not from intellectual aversion, but rather from the challenge of preparing for the task (often without real institutional support). For this reason alone, Navigating World History, is welcome: anyone feeling unprepared to face students signed up for world history should read this book. Because the volume is intellectually deep and thorough and addresses issues relevant to the professions of history and education, it also should be of use to any teacher, historian, or administrator interested in the status of world history.

Navigating World History, is not, thankfully, a compendium of factual information or a rattling-off of strategies on how-to-get-it-all-done. Rather, stepping back from the actual teaching of world history and the "facts" thereof, Manning evaluates the field in five major sectionsits intellectual origins, its connection to changes in the study of history itself, recent research in world history, an examination of the logic of world historical analysis, and finally, its place in the academy. By examining world history in this broad context, Manning demystifies it. Not across some impassable boundary, world history has many points of contact with traditional historical studies. On the other hand, by considering recent research, he also demonstrates how world history enhances our understanding of the past. A major impetus behind the field, Manning argues, is the explosion of knowledge in recent decades, making much of the work characteristic of world history: comparisons and connections. Comparison struggles with both intellectual and practical problems. One major issue facing comparative work is the degree to which comparison of "objects" outside their historical and cultural contexts is valid. At the practical level, problems stem from the unevenness of research. How valid can comparisons be between heavily researched areas and those still in the early stages of historical examination? These good questions, yet to be sorted out satisfactorily, nonetheless do not undermine the value of comparison, which echoes the commonplace that if you want to know your own country, visit another. But even more than comparison, world history is about "connection," which, Manning argues, "conveys the character of world historical analysis better than any other term. It acknowledges locality and uniqueness, yet also invokes broad patterns" (p. 378).

This volume will be of use to many, especially students embarking on an advanced degree in world history, instructors facing it for the first time, experienced world history teachers and professors, historians interested in the field, and administrators at any level considering a program in world history. Recent studies on "conversion" (a subject that, because it is also a program of cultural transmission, should interest world historians) suggest that this word, laden with connotations of center and periphery, conqueror and conquered, is much more of a conversation than historians have traditionally assumed. One strength of Manning's book is that he seems not out to "win converts" per se but to engage his readers in conversation about an exciting new field. Because he assumes a fairly high degree of knowledge about the past and addresses many professional issues, the conversation is mainly with professional historians and teachers. Manning did not intend this book for undergraduates, who (except those considering graduate work) would probably not find it of interest or much use. Many others, though, will benefit enormously. Manning is highly authoritative but hardly authoritarian, and this conversation, as almost all good ones are, is stimulating, informative, and open.


International School of Luxembourg	Robert A. Pierce

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