When I came across Nordic historiography in the 20th century Frank Meyer & Jan Eivind Myhre (eds.) a few years ago, I was surprised that there was a marked for a book on Nordic historigraphy in English. Surely anyone interested in Nordic historigraphy would be able to read Scandinavian. This book might not have an enormous marked, but I have met people in Britain who have read it or at least known about it.
As I have, for the least years, tried to compare and contrast the developement of lingusitic historiography in different countries I have become aware of the lack of knowledge amongst historians of what historians in other countries are doing. I feel this is a pity, and I always encourage others to read more across the borders. Historians working on historiography are working on a meta level and I find it even more necessary for us to be internationally aware.
These thoughs came to me as I opened Paths of continuity: Central European historiography from the 1930’s through the 1950’s Hartmut Lehman & James Van Horn Melton (eds.) this morning. This study has a more narrow scope than Nordic Historiography and still there are people like me who read it and find it usefull. I should add though, that there was only one copy in Norway and this copy was unavailable, so the book in my hands have been borrowed from a Lund University in Sweden. (Thanks to the Norwegian library system!)
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