Distorted Mirrors
David Lowenthal considers how self-image affects nations' history-writing and identities.
Historians are rightly adjured to compare. Studies of specific times and places gain value when we know why events elsewhere were different or similar. Yet truly comparative insights are rare. Save for too-sweeping Spenglers and Toynbees, most historians simply assume the uniqueness or typicality of their chosen time and place. Reference to realms beyond is usually perfunctory and superficial. Few command enough expertise outside their speciality for confident comparison.
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