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first listed by:
Eilonwy (511 words)
appears in these lists:
Samme's Words, by Samme
aliko's Words, by aliko
wendell berry, by brtom
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Interesting. I wondered just when the microhistory "era" (for lack of a better term) began. And here I've been trying to put a name to it for the past 10 years. :-)
I don't know, microhistory started around 1970 or so--couple years give or take--and while the origin of the now-common phrase big picture may predate that time, I don't know that it was a national obsession. Correlation does not mean causation, though, of course.
I wonder too. Or could it possibly be the other way around?
That's actually a characteristic of all my favorite history books, reesetee. :) I'm delighted that this approach has found its way into so many recent publications. Could it be one of the causes of people thinking globally at the same time as they think locally? Of considering the "big picture" at the same time as the immediate issue(s)? *ponders*
True, c_b. That paragraph is also what I liked about the book--its perspective on the broader topic along with the attention to fine detail.
What I love about history:
"You can tell the story of the Broad Street outbreak on the scale of a few hundred human lives ... but in telling the story that way, you limit its perspective, limit its ability to convey a fair account of what really happened, and, more important—why it happened. Once you get to why the story has to widen and tighten at the same time: to the long durée of urban development, or the microscopic tight focus of bacterial life cycles. These are causes, too."
—Steven Johnson, The Ghost Map (New York: Penguin, 2006), 95–96
That phrase is what I love about history: that it is a wide, broad story at the same time as it's a tight, focused one. History writing at its best. I know microhistory is a trend, albeit a long one, but it sure has its finer points!
"History does not, "repeat itself", it repeats MAN!"
--Jan Cox
"History never repeats itself, but it sure rhymes a lot!" --can't remember who said this, but I sure remember it. :^)
History: "An account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools."