Sir Lewis Namier: an Eastern European's Historical Outline

Authors

  • Mark Baker

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21971/P79G66

Abstract

Sir Lewis Namier is well known for the method of historical research that he developed. His emphasis on intense primary source research, attention to political structures, and concentration on the motivation of the individual historical actors have been incorporated, in varying degrees, into the methodology of most historians. Yet, an examination of his essays on Eastern Europe suggests differences and similarities between Namier's historical work on Eastern Europe and his work in other areas. An explanation of these differences suggests that the historian who atomized eighteenth-century British history also had the ability to synthesize those "atoms" into a broad historical outline. This important and often overlooked aspect of this most enigmatic of historians is brought out clearly in his work on Eastern Europe.

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Author Biography

Mark Baker

Mark Baker holds a B.A. (Special) in History. His area of specialization is Eastern European history, with particular attention to the Ukraine. He is currently writing his M.A. thesis which deals with British historians' perspectives on Eastern European history and the impact these perspectives had on the West' s understanding of Eastern Europe. He holds a Province o f Alberta Gr aduat e Scholarship.

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Published

2008-02-21

How to Cite

Baker, M. (2008). Sir Lewis Namier: an Eastern European’s Historical Outline. Past Imperfect, 1. https://doi.org/10.21971/P79G66

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Section

Articles