A Century of The Cambridge Histories

September 2002 » Historically Speaking 2» A Century of The Cambridge Histories Jeremy Black centuryago, in November 1902, the A firstvolume ofThe CambridgeModern History was published. My purpose is to draw attention to the continued value of this powerful ongoing format. I do not do so to celebrate a British achievement for, like so much associated with Britain, (I immediatelydiinkofdie Economist) die CambridgeHistoriesare an international effortwidi heavy American participation, both as volume editors and as contributors. This is especially apparent with die series on East Asia, for example the six-volume Cambridge History ofJapan in which Delmer Brown, Peter Duus, John Whitney Hall, William H. McCullough, and Donald Shiverytook prominent roles, and the Cambridge History ofChina in which twelve volumes have so far appeared.John Fairbank ofHarvard and Denis Twitchett ofPrinceton are the co-editors ofthis series. The Cambridge Histories are often characterized as "tombstone" history: dead and impenetrable. In fact, this is far from the case. The CambridgeHistories are not simply arcane works of scholarshipofvalue onlytodie initiate; diey fulfill one ofthe goals ofteaching , expanding the imaginative and interpretive grasp ofstudents. I have recommended them for many years while teaching, first at Durham and now at Exeter, and I also used diem extensively as a student. The serried and continually growing ranks of the CambridgeHistorieshave a number ofadvantages : availability, range, analysis, and easeof -use are all important. There are many copies of the Cambridge Histories in the libraries of educational institutions. Accessibility has been increased by the paperbacking ofsome ofthe volumes. For Southeast Asia since 1500, 1 recommend not the two-volume 1992 hardback edition but the easier to use four-volume 1999 edition. This makes what is an outstanding attempt to move beyond European attitudes and sources more readily available. Similarly, the CambridgeHistory ofIslam, first published in 1970, appeared in paperback in 1977. Some other Cambridge Histories have been paperbacked, including some of the volumes of the New CambridgeModern History, but there are still many volumes that await this treatment and the accompanying opportunity, seen in the SoutheastAsia series, to make necessaryrevisions . Range is very important. In the case of the Cambridge Histories, this is regional, chronological, and thematic. In the first, there is not only the treatment of Europe, but also the eight-volume History ofAfrica, The very size ofthe Cambridge Histories makes it easier to underline the extent to which students need to learn to understand how to use books, and that that does not necessarily mean reading them cover to cover. the four-volume History ofAmerican Foreign Relations, the histories ofChina andJapan, the History ofEarly InnerAsia, the two-volume History ofEgypt, the eight-volume HisThe range is also chronological. Although the best-known series is the New Cambridge Modern History, which tackles European historyfrom the late 15di century, there is also an excellent range of material for earlierperiods. One ofthe most exciting developments in recent years has been the appearance ofthe New Cambridge Medieval History. Intended to replace the Cambridge Medieval History, which was published between 1911 and 1936, books in the new seven-volume series have been appearing since 1995. For the period before that there is the eighteen-volume Cambridge Ancient History (with five supplementaryvolumes of plates), a series supported by the eleven-volume History ofClassicalLiterature , aswell as byvolumes onGreek andRoman Political Thought and HellenisticPhilosophy . Pre-historyis insufficiently represented, but eveiything later is abundantly covered. In thematic terms, there is for example die eight-volume Cambridge Economic History ofEurope, as well as the three-volume CambridgeEconomic Historyofúe UnitedStates. Some ofdie diematicvolumes are easier to use dian others. Students trying to find thenwayaround die inore than 1250 pages ofThe IndustrialEconomies: The Development ofEconomic and Social Policies (1989),volume eightofdie Cambridge Economic History ofEurope, are definitely not helped by the absence of both introduction and conclusion, while die treatment ofpolitics in the Timurid and Safavid periodsinvolume sixofdie CambridgeHistory tory ofIran, the eleven-volume History ofofIran (1986) can onlybedescribed as impenLatin America, the two-volume History ofetrable. SoutheastAsia, and the twenty-one-volumeIn contrast, PJVI. Holt's introduction to History ofIndia. This gives students valuabledie first volume ofthe Cambridge History of access to continents outside Europe, mostIslam is both clearand useful, and that series ofwhich are poorly...