by Gordon S. Wood.

Penguin Press. 336 pages. $25.95

By Erik J. Chaput
>Special to the Journal

Few historians can match Gordon S. Wood’s scholarly mastery of the field of early American history, his even-handedness, and the clarity and precision of his writing. One of the pre-eminent historians of our time, Wood has taught at Brown University since the late 1960s.

In his latest book, The Purpose of the Past, he reflects on the American historical profession and the writing of history. He has brought together 21 lengthy review essays previously written for The New York Review of Books and the New Republic, with a new afterword following each selection to update his assessments.

While obviously substantive in and of themselves, the essays were chosen because of their comments on his theme, which he labels the “historical sense,” as outlined in a brilliant introductory essay. Essay topics include anachronism in historical writing, microhistory, presentism, history and myth, and the lessons of history.

One interesting choice Wood made was to include critical comments that were made on his essays. His review of Robert Middlekauff’s 1982 work on the American Revolution, for example, sparked an exchange on narrative history with two other historians. (Even though he seemed to be critical of the genre in the early 1980s, Wood has a forthcoming volume in the prestigious Oxford History of the United States — the same series in which Middlekauff’s work appeared — entitled Empire of Liberty, which will cover the years from 1789 to 1815.)

I found Wood’s remarks in regard to history and memory (or heritage) in the course of reviewing Pauline Maier’s important 1997 book on the Declaration of Independence to be particularly engaging. As Wood asks, to “what extent should critical history try to undermine” the “kind of moralizing heritage that Maier analyzes?” One of Maier’s main purposes in American Scripture is to debunk the myths surrounding the “sacred” 1776 document.

As is the case with historian Edmund S. Morgan’s collection of review essays, The Genuine Article, Wood’s book succeeds admirably. This is as good an introduction to the discipline of American history as one is likely to find anywhere. Moreover, as is the case with Morgan’s book, the essays demonstrate Wood’s passion for writing for a general audience — a skill unfortunately lacking in many historians. In perhaps the book’s most memorable passage, Wood, echoing the great theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, notes that to “understand the past in all its complexity is to acquire historical wisdom and humility and indeed a tragic sense of life. A tragic sense does not mean a sad or pessimistic sense of life; it means a sense of the limitations of life.”

Students and practitioners of history can both be served by these words.

THE PURPOSE OF The PAST: Reflections on the Uses of History,

ejchaput@maxwell.syr.edu