The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft by Tom Griffiths (PDF)

Description

No matter how practised we are at history, it always humbles us. No matter how often we visit the past, it always surprises us. The art of time travel is to maintain critical poise and grace in this dizzy space.In this landmark book, eminent historian and award-winning author Tom Griffiths explores the craft of discipline and imagination that is history.Through portraits of fourteen historians, including Inga Clendinnen, Judith Wright, Geoffrey Blainey and Henry Reynolds, he traces how a body of work is formed out of a life-long dialogue between past evidence and present experience. With meticulous research and glowing prose, he shows how our understanding of the past has evolved, and what this changing history reveals about us.Passionate and elegant, The Art of Time Travel conjures fresh insights into the history of Australia and renews our sense of the historian’s craft.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review ‘The Art of Time Travel is sure-footed, subtle, and open-minded – qualities one might expect from an author so insistent on the importance of perspective. Indeed the perspectives it offers will help develop the concerns that are moving to centre stage in 21st-century Australia, and enhance a sense of attachment to this land. It is a major work.’ –Jim Davidson, the Age’Greatly enriches our understanding of Australia past and present … the book teems with fresh insights. Griffiths poses searching questions, which yield illuminating and often exhilarating answers.’ –Ken Inglis AO, award-winning author and historian ‘Suitable for lovers of Australian history, biography and culture, The Art of Time Travel is a graceful and lively work animated by Griffiths’ experience and enthusiasm’ –Books+Publishing’Events happen, but history doesn’t write itself. By exploring the intellectual and emotional backstories of fourteen people who have crafted Australian history, Tom Griffiths shows how and why it is done. In the process, he has created a beautiful work of history.’ –Julianne Schultz AM FAHA, founding editor of Griffith Review’If the past is a foreign country, Tom Griffiths makes the perfect travelling companion. Erudite but honest. Generous yet discerning. Warm, perceptive and nothing if not elegant. Let him be your eyes and ears on our shared history. Most of all, follow his heart.’ –Clare Wright, author, historian and winner of the Stella Prize’The Art of Time Travel should be in every school and library. I would design a senior history course out of it. In fact, I’d tell all students, no matter their disciplines, that if they were to imagine “the epic poem” of Australia, “the truest of histories”, they might start with this book.’ –Barry Hill, the Monthly’A rare feat of imagination and generosity. No other historian has so eloquently and powerfully conveyed history’s allure. The Art of Time Travel will remain relevant for decades to come.’ –Mark McKenna, award-winning author and historian’Intriguing’ –Sunday Territorian’An enthralling account of the intellectual rediscovery of Australia by fourteen of its most innovative explorers, vividly brought to life by a gifted interpreter. Tom Griffiths’ lyrical prose is mesmerizing in its mastery of Australia’s conjunctures of land and lineage, history and memory, fact and fable.’ –David Lowenthal, University College London’Tom Griffiths has the rare, reconciling capacity to envisage Australian history as a symphony, created by many voices – the discordant as well as the harmonious – that tells an evolving, bracing story of who we are. Essential reading.’ –Morag Fraser AM’An historian at the height of his powers. This is book is not only a meditation on the past, but a rallying cry for the future, in which Australia’s history might be a source of both unflinching self-examination and poetic wonder.’ –Brigid Hains, editorial director, Aeon Magazine’Griffiths’ luminous new work underlines the inarguable point that if we are truly to understand our history, we must get to know those who wrote it. A must-read for anyone interested in Australia’s past.’ –Tim Flannery’The Art of Time Travel is in fact a manifesto for a new understanding of Australia, a new sense of country.’ –Nicolas Rothwell, Australian About the Author Tom Griffiths is the W K Hancock Professor of History at the Australian National University and the author of Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica (2007), Forests of Ash: An Environmental History (2001) and Hunters and Collectors: The Antiquarian Imagination in Australia (1996). His books and essays have won prizes in literature, history, science, politics and journalism, including the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History, the Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate, and the Douglas Stewart and Nettie Palmer Prizes for Non-Fiction.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐A stimulating and engrossing trip through the writings of many of our great historians and their perspectives on Australia. A new way of looking at our history.

⭐The Art of Time Travel is a quirky, serious and personal exploration of the art and craft of history in Australia since the Second World War. The author, Tom Griffiths, introduces us to some of his favourite historians and describes how they work.The Art of Time Travel describes how different Australian historians have approached history, how and why they’ve written down what they know, sharing it with those of us who care to know. The book explains the different inspirations that led the various historians down the path they chose, and it also gives the reader an understanding of the difficulties of stepping-out of the “politically correct” square, and that historical truth can only be told from a personal perspective.The book is interesting, easily accessible, and very important, assisting those interested in history to get a better well rounded understanding of how history is shared with us, and it also tells us to take-care, and not believe everything we read, taking notice of what is missing from the historical narrative.The Art of Time Travel has proved to be a source of inspiration for my amateur historian aspirations which I demonstrate the best way I can within Artuccino’s Allan Cunningham Project.The minute I saw Tom Griffith‘s book description on Amazon.com.au I knew his book was a one I must read. If you combine my interest in the craft of writing to my enthusiasm for collecting fragments of early Australian colonial history, a book about Historians, especially Australian Historians, would be one that I would gobble up.Skills required to make an intuitive Historian are the ability to retain massive amount of facts, analyse and consider them, and then communicate by writing eloquent prose. They need to be passionate and tenacious about their subject, and be tough enough to debate their interpretation of historical moments, similar to scientists. Not an easy path to choose. The truth about an historical matter is always subject to the bias of, not only the historian, but the influences of current day politics and cultural appropriateness.We depend on historians to ensure our true history is recorded accurately. They have the responsibility of showing us what happened to previous generations and why. If we know what happened and why, we may be able to find solutions for our future to ensure we don’t make the same mistakes again. Much of our knowledge is built on the mistakes of the past, and on solutions that worked and those that did not.My first experience of reading the truth about Australian History, in particular, about the aboriginal experience, was John Pilger’s ground breaking book The Secret Country. It opened my eyes to something I needed to know.Tom Griffith’s book reinforces my understanding that studying history helps us interpret the world around us and the “why” of things. Comprehending the passions and biases of the people who write history can help us read between the lines and form an opinion about what to believe and what not to believe, which in turns anchors my understanding that when I write about history I must take on the responsibility of being accurate and respectful.

Keywords

Free Download The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft in PDF format
The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft PDF Free Download
Download The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft 2017 PDF Free
The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft 2017 PDF Free Download
Download The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft PDF
Free Download Ebook The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft