Instead of having linear concepts or cyclical views of history, what if there was another way to look at our past? Barbara Tuchman was an American historian and best-selling writer whose theory of history is atypical compared to most historians. Barbara emphasized that history was like painting a portrait with every factual detail at hand essential to finishing the piece. Throughout her time as a successful writer she coined the term not “to instruct but to tell a story.” This quote goes hand in hand with Barbara’s theory of history; She strongly believes that history should be considered an art rather than a science.
Barbara Tuchman was born as Barbara Wertheim on January 30th, 1912 in New York City. She came from a wealthy and proper family. …show more content…
She states that anything that has made a mark on the world and influenced the future is in fact, history. In the 1960s Tuchman despised the fact that some people would refer to history as a science. “History has a way of escaping attempts to imprison it in patterns” She had said this because human behavior had too many variables to be used in the scientific method. She also said that “reliable patterns, or what are otherwise called the lessons of history, remain elusive.” Systems and theories should therefore not be imposed on the past. Tuchman believed that the facts of the past should speak for themselves. History is not a science, it is an art. History needs writers, and artists, who can communicate the past to readers, and that had been Tuchman’s calling. The deeper reasons for events in history, in her view, arise from the investigation of facts rather than theories. She expresses distrust for systematic analyses of historical events because they struggle to force events into a predetermined historical narrative. She critiques other historians by saying that events still affect the course of history whether someone records them or not, and emphasizes distance from an event to understand the greater picture. Tuchman’s history becomes a form of art crafted by authors but still dependent on the psychical events not only their interpretations. She is also skeptical of those who attempt to make out the meaning of history while it is still being made and believes that distance gives us perspective. Tuchman rejects the idea that history can easily be explained by a system because the base of history comes from facts and evidence. She can captivate her audiences, “When you write for the public you have to be clear and you have to be interesting.” Finally, Tuchman knows how to tell a compelling story instead of blindly stating the facts or trying to uncover patterns in
Barbara Tuchman was born as Barbara Wertheim on January 30th, 1912 in New York City. She came from a wealthy and proper family. …show more content…
She states that anything that has made a mark on the world and influenced the future is in fact, history. In the 1960s Tuchman despised the fact that some people would refer to history as a science. “History has a way of escaping attempts to imprison it in patterns” She had said this because human behavior had too many variables to be used in the scientific method. She also said that “reliable patterns, or what are otherwise called the lessons of history, remain elusive.” Systems and theories should therefore not be imposed on the past. Tuchman believed that the facts of the past should speak for themselves. History is not a science, it is an art. History needs writers, and artists, who can communicate the past to readers, and that had been Tuchman’s calling. The deeper reasons for events in history, in her view, arise from the investigation of facts rather than theories. She expresses distrust for systematic analyses of historical events because they struggle to force events into a predetermined historical narrative. She critiques other historians by saying that events still affect the course of history whether someone records them or not, and emphasizes distance from an event to understand the greater picture. Tuchman’s history becomes a form of art crafted by authors but still dependent on the psychical events not only their interpretations. She is also skeptical of those who attempt to make out the meaning of history while it is still being made and believes that distance gives us perspective. Tuchman rejects the idea that history can easily be explained by a system because the base of history comes from facts and evidence. She can captivate her audiences, “When you write for the public you have to be clear and you have to be interesting.” Finally, Tuchman knows how to tell a compelling story instead of blindly stating the facts or trying to uncover patterns in