Judgements on History and Historians

Jacob BurckhardtJudgements on History and Historians'It is amazing how often - a century and a half ago - Burckhardt was right. And when he was wrong, he was productively provocative. To read these fragments is to recapture what it was like to be in the lecture-hall with one of the great historical teachers of all time.' Felipe Fernandez-Armesto Western Civilization was in its pomp when Jacob Burckhardt delivered his Judgements on History and Historians. European Empires spanned the globe, while the modern age was being forged in the nationalist revolutions of 1848. As a tutor to the young Friedrich Nietzsche, as well as one of the first historians to take 'culture' as his subject rather than the triumphs and travails of kings and generals, Burckhardt was at the vanguard of this modern sensibility. Ambitious in its scope, ranging from the days of Ancient Egypt, through the Reformation, to the time of Napoleon, this is indeed a history of 'Western Civilization', written before two monstrous world wars had thrown such a concept into disrepute.Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897). The author of The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy was born in Basel in Switzerland where he lived and worked for virtually the whole of his life. He is widely regarded as the father of Cultural History.Burckhardt, Jacob is the author of 'Judgements on History and Historians ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415412933 and ISBN 0415412935.