What's the British take on the Revolutionary war?

tater · 01-26-11, 07:47 PM

You tink a university history professor should stick to a single text, and take it hook, line and sinker? Really? I'd prefer a US history prof capable of actually writing a US history, and picking and choosing from various sources. That is after all Zinn's book is—it's a survey book using secondary sources. It's not like any text of an entire nation's history is gonna be great, they'll all be retreads, regardless of the author. I think in many ways his book really requires that you already know the basic storyline, in fact.

It's like WW2 pacific histories that use Morrison as if it were a primary source. Look at all the WRONG takes on the IJN at Midway that were simply retreads of Morrison and Fuchida (taking Fuchida uncritically (even though he was discredited in Japan) since he was the only japanese author they had translated).

Zinn's take on Hiroshima is of course wrong (he thinks the cable from the jap ambassador saying they should negotiate proves something (yet ignores the response from Tokyo—"hell no!")

His stuff about the Pequot was missing a lot (which I know since I grew up near where they were wiped out, and we learned about it in much detail). Eberything missing pushed the story in one direction (Euros BAD, natives, happy, living in harmony).

And no, the prof was not using Zinn only to criticize, this was at a U here in the US, so the prof was likely every bit the socialist that Zinn was. Zinn says that his history is biased right in the book. He claims that since all the others are biased the other way it's OK. The later stuff (recent history) is terrible. The earlier parts are better, but the narrative is clearly designed to go a little too far in the opposite direction of enshrining the Founders.

Myself, I prefer scholarly books with, you know, proper footnotes and citations—even if the text itself is well-written (it is very well written, and pretty readable).

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Threaded Mode

01-26-11, 07:47 PM	#15
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	You tink a university history professor should stick to a single text, and take it hook, line and sinker? Really? I'd prefer a US history prof capable of actually writing a US history, and picking and choosing from various sources. That is after all Zinn's book is—it's a survey book using secondary sources. It's not like any text of an entire nation's history is gonna be great, they'll all be retreads, regardless of the author. I think in many ways his book really requires that you already know the basic storyline, in fact. It's like WW2 pacific histories that use Morrison as if it were a primary source. Look at all the WRONG takes on the IJN at Midway that were simply retreads of Morrison and Fuchida (taking Fuchida uncritically (even though he was discredited in Japan) since he was the only japanese author they had translated). Zinn's take on Hiroshima is of course wrong (he thinks the cable from the jap ambassador saying they should negotiate proves something (yet ignores the response from Tokyo—"hell no!") His stuff about the Pequot was missing a lot (which I know since I grew up near where they were wiped out, and we learned about it in much detail). Eberything missing pushed the story in one direction (Euros BAD, natives, happy, living in harmony). And no, the prof was not using Zinn only to criticize, this was at a U here in the US, so the prof was likely every bit the socialist that Zinn was. Zinn says that his history is biased right in the book. He claims that since all the others are biased the other way it's OK. The later stuff (recent history) is terrible. The earlier parts are better, but the narrative is clearly designed to go a little too far in the opposite direction of enshrining the Founders. Myself, I prefer scholarly books with, you know, proper footnotes and citations—even if the text itself is well-written (it is very well written, and pretty readable).