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Published Apr 2022
784 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
A fascinating, epic exploration of who gets to record the world's history - from Julius Caesar to William Shakespeare to Ken Burns - and how their biases influence our understanding about the past.
There are many stories we can spin about previous ages, but which accounts get told? And by whom? Is there even such a thing as "objective" history? In this lively and thought-provoking book, Richard Cohen reveals how professional historians and other equally significant witnesses, such as the writers of the Bible, novelists, and political propagandists, influence what becomes the accepted record. Cohen argues, for example, that some historians are practitioners of "Bad History" and twist reality to glorify themselves or their country.
Making History investigates the published works and private utterances of our greatest chroniclers to discover the agendas that informed their—and our—views of the world. From the origins of history writing, when such an activity itself seemed revolutionary, through to television and the digital age, Cohen brings captivating figures to vivid light, from Thucydides and Tacitus to Voltaire and Gibbon, Winston Churchill and Henry Louis Gates. Rich in complex truths and surprising anecdotes, the result is a revealing exploration of both the aims and art of history-making, one that will lead us to rethink how we learn about our past and about ourselves.
"Cohen...demystifies the act of history-making in this sweeping survey...[he] makes a persuasive argument that history is created by historians as much as by politics, war, economics, and other forces...The result is a fascinating and finely wrought history of history." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Cohen's judgments are insightful, thought-provoking, and thoroughly researched. History lovers will find this exceptionally well-written book as insightful as it is a pleasure to read." - Library Journal (starred review)
"A chapter titled 'Herstory' lumps together women scholars from the past 2,000 years, from Chinese historian and philosopher Ban Zhao to notable 20th-century historians Barbara Tuchman and Doris Kearns Goodwin, and the chapter on Black historians could have been more well considered...Lively but long-winded and largely superficial biographies of historians through the ages." - Kirkus Reviews
"What a brilliant achievement! Like all Richard Cohen's writing, The History Makers opens a dialogue with the reader—grave and witty, suave yet pointed, erudite yet engaging and full of energy. It has huge scope but never forfeits the telling detail. It is scholarly, lively, quotable, up-to-date, and fun." - Hilary Mantel, author of the bestselling Thomas Cromwell trilogy
"With meticulous research and riveting anecdotes, Richard Cohen has peeled back the hidden history behind those who record our past. He brilliantly shows how an extraordinary gallery of characters—from prodigies to charlatans, from ideologues to heroes—has exposed, shaped, and, at times, bent and even covered up the facts. In the process, Cohen has achieved what only the finest historians can: He has scrupulously and engagingly made history." - David Grann, bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z
This information about Making History was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Richard Cohen is the author of By the Sword, Chasing the Sun, and How to Write Like Tolstoy. The former publishing director of two leading London publishing houses, he has edited books that have won the Pulitzer, Booker, and Whitbread/Costa prizes, while twenty-one have been #1 bestsellers. He has written for most UK quality newspapers as well as for the New York Times Book Review and the Wall Street Journal, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
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