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the3romes's review
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
The concepts and arguments are interesting, but the overuse of metaphors holds the book back.
thefoxparadox's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
Gaddis wrote a book that achieved what he aimed for it to do; which was to understand history as a scholarly study by many branching faces. The pace is dragged down exponentially by the obnoxious amounts of metaphors used, however he addresses this fact himself late in the book. While I read this for a history course, it honestly is not a bad read and often gives the time to fully wrap around an argument before moving to the next. It is a good way to expand your understanding of the reasons why and how history has become a scholarly study so important to society.
heregrim's review
5.0
A great overview and introduction to the historian's craft. More importantly, clear enough written for a layman to understand the ins and outs, which was much of his stated goal. Plus, comparisons with both the social sciences and the hard sciences.
tristanpej's review
4.0
The. Book is a series of musings on historians, what they do, and how we fit in the academy. It proposes that history has more in common with certain sciences like palaeontology, geology, astronomy, or evolutionary biology rather than the social sciences. He breaks this down over several chapters. Definite required reading for the budding historian.
caitcoy's review against another edition
3.0
The Landscape of History is an interesting look at how historians do their jobs and what their role is in the larger scheme of things. Gaddis uses a lot of analogies to make his points clear to a more general audience and although this can tend towards being distracting, it does at least make the book easy to read. I would recommend it as an interesting resource for those interested in learning about the profession of history but probably not for the casual reader of history.
briawnah's review
3.0
Interesting, but some of his extended metaphors felt forced after awhile. The question of whether the study of history is more art or science is worth exploring. But this is most definitely a theoretical and philosophical discussion and not one of practice application.
cekwrites's review
3.0
actual rating: 3 stars
perfectly average. the writing was engaging, but there were a WHOLE lot of metaphors.
read for Intro to Historical Research with Dr. Mateusevich [HIST 2180] at Seton Hall University.
perfectly average. the writing was engaging, but there were a WHOLE lot of metaphors.
read for Intro to Historical Research with Dr. Mateusevich [HIST 2180] at Seton Hall University.