|
|
|
Reviews
| History in the Making: An Absorbing Look at How American History Has Changed Over the Last 200 Years, by Kyle Ward. New York: The New Press, 2006. 400 pages. $26.95, cloth.
|
| Students entering today's high school and university classes bring with them the belief that American history is a static and unchanging narrative of events and people. What they learn in their classes today must be the same topics that their grandparents learned, right? Not right, argues History in the Making's author Kyle Ward. In this fascinating book, Ward explores American history textbooks from the 1790s through the 1980s to reveal that the past as we understand it is not static at all. Ward uses excerpts from dozens of textbooks to show how history changes through time, reflecting the attitudes and understanding of each generation of history writers. Ward argues that textbooks are key evidence for exploring the changing nature of history, since the textbook is the primary source used by most history teachers to plan and develop their lessons. These textbooks are, says Ward, "arguably the most essential tool in the history classroom today—as it has been for nearly two centuries" (p. xx). Given the centrality of textbooks to teaching history, argues Ward, it is essential that history teachers understand that textbooks, while teaching about the past, "are actually written in the present... [W]hat we find in our textbooks today often tells us more about the time in which they were written than the historical events that they are trying to portray" (p. xiv). His goal is to show how "textbooks over the past two hundred years have been written, published, taught and studied by people with personal biases and perspectives, and interpretations of what our past was like" (p. xxv). |
1
|
|
History in the Making begins with an introduction that includes the bulk of Ward's analysis. It weaves together a broad summary of how schools choose their textbooks with his main arguments about the importance of critical analysis of textbooks themselves. The remainder of the book is organized into eight chronological parts. Part I covers the exploration and colonization of America; Part II the American Revolution; Part III the new nation; Part IV the Civil War era; Part V the late nineteenth century; Part VI the Great Depression and World War II; Part VII the Cold War and postwar America; and Part VIII modern America through 1980. Within each part, Ward explores five to seven historical events in separate chapters. Each chapter includes a short introduction to provide context, followed by a series of textbook excerpts in chronological order by textbook date. Brief comments at the beginning of each excerpt indicate how each selection differs in content and perspective from the last. When combined, these short comments reveal the changing perspectives of history writers over time. |
2
|
|
As a resource for history teachers, History in the Making has advantages and disadvantages. Ward's comprehensive use of textbooks offers a rich collection of primary sources to teach students critical analysis skills. For example, having students compare an 1844 textbook description of native Americans as 'savages' with a 1986 textbook that offers an anthropological study of the origins of native peoples, challenges students to think about the reasons a textbook might label native Americans so, and why these perspectives have changed. Another topic from Part VI, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia in 1859 reveals the continuing debate about the role the raid played as a catalyst for war, the justness of Brown's cause, and the very sanity of John Brown. Ward's selections vividly show that these issues "are as alive today as they were in 1859" (p. 178). Using excerpts like these, the teacher can guide students to an understanding of the centrality of interpretation to historical writing. |
3
|
|
Although History in the Making offers a valuable resource in the dozens of textbooks used, it has very little analysis. Following the introduction, Ward plunges into the textbook excerpts, offering only brief analytical comments. This allows his choice of excerpt to speak for itself. Ward's stated purpose is to analyze textbooks to reveal the differing perspectives of the authors, but what he ultimately achieves is an opportunity for readers to make their own historical judgments about each textbook's interpretation of America's past. Historians and history teachers alike will find this approach a pleasant challenge, while others may have a more difficult time distinguishing the causes for interpretive changes in textbooks over time. In sum, History in the Making is engaging and enjoyable. Despite its minor shortcomings, Ward provides a valuable resource for the historian and the history teacher. |
4
|
| | |
| California State University, Stanislaus |
Eileen P. Kerr |
|
Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
|