Big Questions In History | Book Review

Reviewed by Thomas Scarborough

While this is a purely secular book, it impinges on Christian faith in important ways. The Christian faith is, after all, a historical faith. Not only that, but it has distinctive views of history, and has itself both greatly influenced and been influenced by the history of the past 2,000 years. Big Questions In History deals with twenty major themes, including:

* What is history?

* What makes a great leader?

* Why do revolutions happen?

* How does private life affect public life?

* Why do religious and spiritual movements grow?

* Can history have an end?

Each theme is introduced by a leading authority in the field — more often than not a university professor. Each of these contributors clearly had their brief: five pages, highlighting the most crucial aspects of the question, and illustrated with a few clear examples from history. Further, each contribution is followed by a commentary by freelance writers or members of The Times Higher Education Supplement — contributions which are equally interesting and profound.

WHY DO RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS GROW?

Linda Woodhead, Senior Lecturer in Christian Studies at Lancaster University, deals with the question, Why do religious and spiritual movements grow? With regard to our modern times, she writes: “The rise of energetic forms of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Charismatic Christianity has exposed an embarrassing theoretical nakedness.” Freelance writer Stephen Phillips echoes this by noting that “predictions that advances in scientific understanding, the rise of consumer culture and other secular forces presage the demise of religion” have been confounded.

Woodhead draws strong historical parallels between earthly power and religion. She summarises her argument as follows: “Religion is likely to flourish in alliance and/or defiance of earthly power, whereas spirituality is likely to flourish in the wake of such alliance. In this regard, “Islam finds itself in the sweet spot where the two most propitious conditions for religious growth coincide.” On the other hand, according to Phillips, those Christian Churches which are seeing the strongest growth today “feature a less intellectually rarefied, omniscient, interventionist God”, which further appeals to “the poor and downtrodden”.

WHO DOMINATES THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY?

The persons most quoted, or most mentioned in the book as having impacted our modern understanding of history, are Niccolo Machiavelli, Edward Gibbon, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Karl Marx.

What does Niccolo Machiavelli have to do with “doing history”? Machiavelli was of course a famous-notorious political philosopher, and a great realist and pragmatist. By and large, it would seem to be his realist approach to history that gives him his present appeal. Ideology is out, realism is in. The idea that history is progressing receives “bad press” throughout the book. Benjamin Barber, Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, would seem to represent the general tone when he notes that “there will be conflict enough — war, cant, hatred, death and cruelty enough — to drive history forward” — and according to editor Harriet Swain, history may be “a gateway to hell rather than a prelude to heaven”.

While one of Marx’s greatest contributions to the philosophy of history was his view of historical progress and a final, perfect consummation of history, this view is virtually completely sidelined in the book. Rather, Marx takes centre stage for his view that history is shaped by broad movements of men and women. Before Marx, history tended to be about “great men”. Marx, however, greatly expanded the topics that are today acknowledged as “history”.

WHAT IS HISTORY?

This was one of the less satisfactory aspects of the book, in that, while it dealt with general philosophical approaches to history, it offered little indication as to how accessible the past truly is. This is perhaps no surprise, considering the vastness and confusion of the subject today. Richard J. Evans, Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge, speaks of “a pervasiveness of controversy among historians”.

In past eras, the approach to history was often that of chronicling the deeds of great men and the course of decisive battles. However, over the past century there has been the tendency to view history in far broader and far more subjective terms. For Leopold von Ranke in the 19th Century, history was objective truth “as it actually happened”, while for Keith Jenkins, a modern historian, “history in the main is what historians make […] a shifting, problematic discourse”.

Perhaps the truth would lie somewhere in between. Whether I view history as the field of great men, or as the struggles of ordinary people — as the complex interplay of countless small events, or as the influence of a few — or even if I should interpret events as doubtful or as sure — this might depend a great deal on the truth (or otherwise) that lies in my own spirit, thus placing a great responsibility of spiritual discernment on me.

SYNTHESIS

This book was a most worthwhile read. It dealt with fascinating issues in an approachable way, it opened up intelligent discussion, it was grounded in illuminating examples from history, and it gave one a good feel for “the state of history” today. Not only this, but each section includes a useful list for further reading, and the book was completed with a comprehensive index.

The chapter which came as the greatest surprise, for me, was on the subject, What makes a great leader? On the basis of history, it described characteristics which at first seemed quite counter-intuitive.

CITATION OF REFERENCE

Swain, Harriet, Ed. Big Questions in History. London: Jonathan Cape, 2005. ISBN 0-224-07280-3.

Thomas Scarborough is the minister of a Congregational Church in Cape Town. One of his “diversions” is electronics writing, for which he has received a number of publishers’ prizes.