The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide 4th Edition

Widely acclaimed for its accessibility and engaging approach to the subject, the fourth edition of The Methods and Skills of History combines theory and instruction with hands-on practice, making it a comprehensive guide to historical research and writing.

• Combines theory with hands-on practice in its introduction to historical methods
• Includes a series of field-tested exercises designed to make the research and writing of history more meaningful and accessible to readers
• Features expanded coverage of writing history and up-to-date coverage of online research
• Designed to strengthen students’ critical thinking and communication skills

MICHAEL J. SALEVOURIS is Professor Emeritus of History at Webster University, St. Louis. In addition to various reviews and articles, he is the author of Learning American History: Critical Skills for the Survey Course (with Conal Furay, 1997), and Riflemen Form: The War Scare of 1859–1860 in England (1982).

The late CONAL FURAY was Professor Emeritus at Webster University, where he taught such courses as American Business History and The Western in Film and Story. He is the author of Learning American History: Critical Skills for the Survey Course (with Michael J. Salevouris, 1997), and The Grass-Roots Mind in America: The American Sense of Absolutes (1977).

Preface xi

Part I Historical Thinking 1

1 The Uses of History 3

Exercises Set A 8

Exercises Set B 10

2 The Nature of History: History as Reconstruction 13

Exercises Set A 21

Exercises Set B 24

3 Historical Thinking: Continuity and Change 27

Exercises Set A 37

Exercises Set B 39

4 Historical Thinking: Multiple Causality in History 43

Exercises Set A 55

Exercises Set B 60

5 Historical Thinking: Context 65

Exercises Set A 73

Exercises Set B 77

6 History Writing: Telling a Story 83

Exercises Set A 91

Exercises Set B 98

Part II Confronting the Historical Account 101

7 Libraries: Real and Virtual 103

Exercises Set A 115

Exercises Set B 124

8 Reading History 131

Exercises Set A 141

Exercises Set B 149

9 History on Film 151

Exercise 165

Part III Doing History 167

10 Evidence 169

Exercises Set A 179

Exercises Set B 188

11 Oral Histories, Statistics, and Photographs 197

Exercises Set A 211

Exercises Set B 214

12 Interpretation 217

Exercises Set A 227

Exercises Set B 234

13 Writing For Your Reader 241

Exercises Set A 249

Exercises Set B 250

Part IV Historiography 253

14 The History of History 255

Exercise 269

15 History and the Disciplines 271

Exercises 279

Appendix A: Fur Trade on the Upper Missouri River: Documents 287

Appendix B: Source References and Bibliographies 295

Appendix C: Sample Oral History Release Form 299

Suggestions for Further Reading 301

Index 307

Writing Capsules

1. Coherent Paragraphs: The Topic Sentence 10

2. The Literature Review 35

3. Essays: The Introduction 76

4. Integrating Quotations 97

5. The Précis 148

6. Coherent Paragraphs: Transitions 244 

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