Discusses the combination of historical and personal factors that contributed to the rise and decline of the powerful French ruler

Napoleon

Butterfield, Herbert

Biographies & Memoirs

Macmillan Pub. Co.

Herbert Butterfield's survey of the origins of modern science is finely crafted general history.

Origins of Modern Science 1300-1800

History

Russia

Free Press

Writings on Christianity and History

Religion & Spirituality

Oxford University Press

International Conflict in the Twentieth Century: A Christian View (Routledge Revivals)

World

Routledge

The Peace Tactics of Napoleon, 1806-1808

Octagon Books

A classic essay on the distortions of history that occur when historians impose a rigid point of view on the study of the past. It is not as easy to understand the past as many who have written it would have us believe. The historians who look at it from the Protestant, progressive, "19th Century gentleman" viewpoint are defined by Professor Butterfield as "the Whig historians." The Whig historian studies the past with reference to the present. He looks for agency in history. And, in his search for origins and causes, he can easily select those facts that give support to his thesis and thus eliminate other facts equally important to the total picture.

The Whig Interpretation of History

Historical Study & Educational Resources

W.W.Norton&Company

From online reviews:  "Easily readable in an evening and best consumed whole, Herbert Butterfield's book is a wonderful indictment of the historical meta-narratives that are typical of 'Whig' historians. He rightly cautions us away from linear, progressive, value-laden, reductionist interpretations of history toward an approach that appreciates the diversity and the meanderings of the past and one that sees the events and people of the past as they saw themselves."    "A classic work in historiography. Butterfield decries the tendency of historians to interpret history as progressively cumulative in the present; or equally, to selectively use history as an ideological justification of "my views"; or finally, to anachronistically read their ideologies into the past so that its heroes were all fighting to produce the ideas they now possess. If you've ever wanted to throttle someone for claiming "all of history shows..." or if you've heard yet another sermon illustration that sounds perfectly contrived to make a point, you get the gist of this book."    "This is a must-read for all historians. Butterfield presents a monumental thesis on our interpretation of history-- especially for Americans. It's a fascinating discussion of how history is written by the winners-- the protestant, liberal, democratic winners. One of my favorites."

Whig Interpretation of History

Ams Pr Inc

A distillation of the thought and research to which Herbert Butterfield devoted the last twenty years of his life to, this book, originally published in 1981, traces how differently people understood the relevance of their past and its connection with their religion. It examines ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia; the political perceptiveness of the Hittites; the Jewish sense of God in history, of promise and fulfilment; the classical achievement of scientific history; and the unique Chinese tradition of historical writing. The author explains the problems of the early Christians in relating their traditions of Jesus to their life and faith and the emergence, when Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire, of a new historical understanding. The book then charts the gradual growth of a sceptical approach to recorded authority in Islam and Western Europe, the reconstruction of the past by deductive analysis of the surviving evidence and the secularisation of the eighteenth century.

The Origins of History

Watson, Adam

Methuen Publishing, Ltd.

This book is an extended version of the Wiles lectures given at the Queen's University, Belfast, in 1954. It illustrates the rise, scope, methods and objectives of the history of historiography. The topics selected for discussion give a general outline of the modern historical movement from the mid-eighteenth century to the contribution of Lord Acton in the late nineteenth century. Significant landmarks in the history of historical scholarship are examined to illustrate the various kinds of treatment that can be given to the subject.

Man on His Past (The Wiles Lectures)

Cambridge University Press

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Books by Butterfield, Herbert