History casts a spell on our minds more powerful than science or religion. It does not root us in the past at all, but instead flatters us with the belief in our ability to recreate the world in our image. It is a form of self-assertion that brooks no opposition or dissent and shelters us from the experience of time. So argues Constantin Fasolt in The Limits of History, an ambitious and path-breaking study that conquers history's power by carrying the fight into the center of its domain. Fasolt considers the work of Hermann Conring (1606-81) and Bartolus of Sassoferrato (1313/1457), two antipodes in early modern battles over the principles of European thought and action that ended with the triumph of historical consciousness. Proceeding according to the rules of normal historical analysis-gathering evidence, putting it in context, and analyzing its meaning - Fasolt uncovers limits that no kind of history can cross. He concludes that history is a ritual designed to maintain the modern faith in the autonomy of states and individuals. God wants it - the old crusaders would have said. The truth, Fasolt insists, only begins where that illusion ends. With its probing look at the ideological underpinnings of historical practice, The Limits of History demonstrates that history presupposes highly political assumptions about free will, responsibility, and the relationship between the past and the present.

About the Author
Constantin Fasolt is professor of history at the University of Chicago. He is the author of Council and Hierarchy: The Political Thought of William Durant the Younger and the editor and translator of Hermann Conring's New Discourse on the Roman-German Emperor.

Reviews
"Some knowledge of the past is possible, and we can still differentiate good from bad history by using all the techniques established by the profession over the course of hundreds of years. But what is impossible is to divide the past from the present. To have demonstrated this conclusively is this book's major achievement, and Constantin Fasolt does so in beautiful language. The volume contains many sentences which practitioners of history should write down and keep before their eyes when practicing their craft." (German History)"



Book Information
ISBN 9780226101248
Author Constantin Fasolt
Format Paperback
Page Count 347
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 539g
Dimensions(mm) 22mm * 17mm * 2mm