Life and Work of the German Historian Leopold Von Ranke (1795-1886): An Assessment of His Achievements

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Pages:396
ISBN:1-4955-0271-6
978-1-4955-0271-2
Price:$239.95 + shipping
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This is the first work in English covering Ranke’s life, work and understanding of history. The book is a synthesis and will be an important volume for future historians and students. It examines over 35 different works and articles. Only by including all of these into the assessment of Ranke as an historian a different and much more complex picture of the historian and personality of Ranke will evolve.

Reviews

“The German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886) was undoubtedly one of the most influential German historians of the nineteenth century, indeed arguably the most influential historian in the world. Ranke’s methodology was based on the critical analysis of the source materials, establishing the bias, personal perspective, and approach of the author, and privileging the primary source – a method sometimes called ‘objectivity’, which is now regarded as commonplace in the historical profession. The work by Boldt is able to provide new and different perspectives on Ranke. He provides a biography on Ranke which is long due. Outstanding are his chapters on the critique on each of Ranke’s books and articles and the critique on Ranke in absolute details. The chapters on Ranke’s biography and on the reviews dealing with Ranke offer valuable contributions to the continuing discussions of Ranke’s significance in the 21st century. The chapter on the archives allows future researchers an overview and access to archives and libraries containing Ranke materials. Boldt is a scholar of outstanding tenacity and enterprise. A few years ago Boldt published his first book on the connections of Ranke with Ireland which made major contributions in regards of the personal and academic Ranke as well as his understanding of ‘truth’ in his work History of England. I have no doubt that Boldt’s book will make a major impact on historiography. This work is the most significant contribution to Ranke studies in forty years and it is also an important contribution to the debate on what constitutes good historical practice.”
-Prof. Dr. Jürgen Elvert
Jean-Monnet-Lehrstuhl für Europäische Geschichte
Historisches Institut
Universität zu Köln
Gronewaldstraße 2
50931 Köln
Germany


Table of Contents

SAMPLE FROM TABLE OF CONTENTS:
List of Illustrations
Foreword by Georg G. Iggers
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Why Ranke?
How to approach the past and write history
Ranke in the context of the German historiographical tradition and his influence outside of Germany
Why Ranke?
Chapter 2: Major Themes and the Understanding of history by Ranke
General understanding and the philosophy of history
How to write history
The role of the historian and objectivity
The sources
The philosophy of history
His structure and wording
Religion and God
Nation and Europe
Chapter 3: Leopold von Ranke’s life and influences
Family background
Ranke’s childhood and educational years
First employment in Frankfurt/Oder and his early years in Berlin
Ranke’s first research trip (1827-1831)
Academic establishment and fame during the Vormärz
1843: Ranke’s wedding and the first years of his marriage
European Revolutions 1848/49
Ranke’s daily life during the 1850s
The illness of Clarissa von Ranke and her ‘Salon
Ranke’
Ranke’s academic career during the 1850s and 1860s
The Franco-Prussian war and death of Clarissa
Chapter 4: An overview of Ranke’s articles and books
Geschichten der romanischen und germanischen Völker von 1494 bis 1535 (1824)
Fürsten und Völker von Süd-Europa im sechzehnten und siebzehnten Jahrhundert (1827/34-36)
Die serbische Revolution
(1829)
‘Zur Geschichte des Don Carlos’ (1829)
Ueber die Verschwörung gegen Venedig, im Jahre 1618 (1831)
Historisch-politische Zeitschrift (1832-36)

‘Zur Geschichte der italienischen Poesie’ (1835)
‘De historiae et politices cognatione atque discrimine oratio’ (1836)
Jahrbücher des Deutschen Reichs unter dem Sächsischen Hause (1837-40)
Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation

(1842-47)
‘Über den Ausbruch des siebenjährigen Krieges. Aus Mitchell’s ungedruckten Memoiren‘ (1844)
‘Über die Versammlung der französischen Notabeln im Jahre 1787, vornehmlich aus noch unbenutzten Documenten der Pariser Archive‘ (1846)
Neun Bücher Preußischer Geschichte < /i>(1848-49)
‘Zur Kritik Preußischer Memoiren‘ (1851)
‘Zur Kritik fränkisch-deutscher Reichsannalisten‘ (1854)
Französische Geschichte vornehmlich im sechzehnten und siebzehnten Jahrhundert (1856-62)
Englische Geschichte vornehmlich im sechzehnten und siebzehnten Jahrhundert (1859-68)

‘Zur orientalischen Frage. Gutachten im Juli 1854 Sr. Majestät König Friedrich Wilhelm IV vorgetragen‘ (1865)
‘Briefwechsel Friedrich des Grossen mit dem Prinzen Wilhelm IV. von Oranien und mit dessen Gemahlin, Anna, geb. Princess Royal von England‘ (1868)
Geschichte Wallensteins (1869)
Der Ursprung des Siebenjährigen Krieges (1871)
Die deutschen Mächte und der Fürstenbund. Deutsche Geschichte von 1780 bis 1790 (1871-72)
Aus dem Briefwechsel Friedrich Wilhelms IV. mit Bunsen (1873)
Zur Deutschen Geschichte. Vom Religionsfrieden bis zum dreißigjährigen Krieg (1874)
180 Zur Geschichte von Österreich und Preußen zwischen den Friedensschlüssen zu Aachen und Hubertusburg (1875)
Ursprung und Beginn der Revolutionskriege 1791 und 1792 (1875)
Abhandlungen und Versuche. Erste Versuche (1877)
Denkwürdigkeiten des Staatskanzlers Fürsten von Hardenberg (1877/78)
Historisch-biographische Studien (1877-78)
Friedrich der Große. Friedrich Wilhelm der Vierte (1878)
Zur Geschichte Deutschlands und Frankreich im neunzehnten Jahrhundert (1887)
Abhandlungen und Versuche. Neue Sammlung (1888)
Weltgeschichte
(1881-88)

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