Wilfred M. McClay

March/April 2008 Historically Speaking 15 to be a Tudor-Stuart historian, one was either a Tudor or a Stuart historian and within Stuart history either a student of the reign of James I, Charles I, the civil war, or the Restoration. When an article I wrote on the Restoration period was published, an historian of the era asked if I intended to remain in the Restoration. Once having evaded the critics sufficiendy to achieve a safe berth somewhere, many scholars lose that itch to tackle a whale. How much safer to become an expert in one's small bailiwick, digging ever deeper into that territory and beinginstandy thought of when someone is wanted to add a chapter to a collection or serve on a panel. Venturing further involves an often unwelcome intrusion onto other scholars' turf where the time traveler is likely to commit the sort of blunders the British refer to as "howlers." On the other hand, there are wonderful insights that only someone with great expertise in a field can appreciate. The great popular books lean heavily on the work of such scholarship. There is another problem, one Hochschild's narrative skill leads him to overlook. It is easier to write for one's colleagues than for the public—one doesn 't have to provide all that background information or be scintillating. It is difficult to write riveting prose and hard to produce a book that will pass muster as a scholarly contribution while keeping the lay reader happily flipping those pages. Stephen Ambrose, from his post at the University of New Orleans, took the public route to "write himself" to the top of his profession. His books delighted the public and made him rich and famous but never really put him at the top of his academic field. The academy There is another problem, one Hochschild's narrative skill leads him to overlook. It is easier to write for one's colleagues than for the public—one doesn't have to provide all that background information or be scintillating. often takes a condescending attitude toward popular works. It is hard to please two masters. I tried to please both with moderate success, beginning with my book To Keep andBearArms: The Origins of anAnglo-American Right My most recent book, Peter's War:A New EngkndSlave Boy and the American Revolution, now in press, was a further step in that direction . A biography required novelistic skills to bring the central figure to life. Descriptions were needed to enable readers to envision the landscape and the people and to feel steeped in the ominous atmosphere of the colonies at war. Harry Truman is supposed to have urged that history be taught exclusively through biography. That would be interesting, but a mistake. The historian's detective ability doesn 't naturally translate into dramatic literature, and much would be missed if only narrative were on offer. Still, I wholeheartedly agree with Hochschild that combining analytical history and narrative is worth the effort. There are great stories that deserve telling and, when well told, will attract a wide range of readers. Adding more courses on good writing to the graduate history curriculum will help, as will accepting dissertation topics that are broad. We academic historians need more tolerance of popular work and the courage to attempt it. The best, most exciting history comes from the deep knowledge years of work in a field impart This should be shared with the public and valued by the academy. Future buffs—and even future colleagues —are out there to be seduced into the field. More important, a public with respect for the past and an understanding of history is essential for a government of and by the people. Joyce LeeMalcolm isprofessor of legalhistory atthe George Mason University Schoolof Law. Her book Peter's War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution isforthcomingfrom Yale University Press. Wilfred M. McClay Although one will want to quarrel with some of its details, Adam Hochschild's essay makes many useful points about the current state of historical writing. It does so in a refreshingly upbeat way, urging us to remember the sheer intellectual delight that comes...