Histories and Fallacies

'Histories and Fallacies' investigates whether we should actually perceive the stories told by historians as legitimate and true. If so, we should also question to what extent we can rely on historians' interpretations of the past.

Histories and Fallacies is a review of the conceptual and methodological problems in the discipline of history. Historian Carl R. Trueman navigates his readers through a series of classic historical problems as a way to examine what history is, its meaning, and how it can be understood. Chapter by chapter, Histories and Fallacies provides an account of a particular problem, elaborates by examining classic examples of that problem, and then suggests a solution or approach that will bear fruit for the writer or reader of history.

Readers who follow Trueman’s deft writing will not just be learning theory but will already be practicing fruitful approaches to history. Histories and Fallacies guides both readers and writers of history away from dead ends and methodological mistakes, and into a fresh confidence in the productive nature of the historical task.

Carl R. Trueman (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is professor of historical theology and church history and vice president for academic affairs at Westminster Theological Seminary.