Cover Introduction to the Study of Modern History
series "Strumenti"
pp. 260, 978-88-15-07091-3
publication year 1999

PAOLO PRODI

Introduction to the Study of Modern History

In this introduction to the study of modern history, the end result of the lengthy teaching experience of Paolo Prodi, assisted by Giancarlo Angelozzi and Carla Penuti, students will find a general framework for the subject and a preliminary outline of historiographic problems, methods, and tools. The first part comprises a general reflection on the meaning of historical endeavours, reviews the essential traits which define, at various levels, the modern age, and provides a synthetic profile of that period's historiography by focusing on the role that the study of history has played in modern culture and educational systems. The second part has a dual goal: one is to supply basic information for organising study of the modern era through the use of libraries and archives; the other contains a useful bibliographical essay which offers a vast and up-to-date selection of references concerning all aspects of modern history.

Contents: Preface. - Part One: Criteria. - 1. History as a Discipline. - 2. Modern History. - 3. History of Modern Storiography. - 4. History at the End of the Millennium. - Part Two: Instruments. - 5. In the Library: Information and Bibliography. - 6. Libraries and Archives: Written Sources. - 7. Cataloguing and Citation Techniques. - Bibliographical Suggestions for Further Study. - Bibliographical References.

Paolo Prodi teaches Modern History in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the University of Bologna.

Premessa
Parte prima: I criteri
1. La storia come disciplina
2. La storia moderna
3. Storia della storiografia moderna
4. La storia nel tornante del millennio
Indicazioni bibliografiche per ulteriori approfondimenti
Indice dei nomi