Pre-Industrial Societies : New Perspectives on the Past Paperback / softback
by Patricia (Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton) Crone
Part of the New Perspectives on the Past series
Paperback / softback
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Description
One would not normally expect students of biology to dissect frogs without prior knowledge of frog anatomy; yet students of history are regularly expected to analyse pre-modern institutions and events without any prior knowledge whatsoever of the general anatomy of pre-industrial societies.
Gifted students will often acquire considerable knowledge of their particular areas - own individual frogs, so to speak - but the extent to which these conform to or depart from a common pattern remains unknown to them, a fact which seriously limits their capacity for interpretation. What goes for students goes for non-academic readers too.
They have at their disposal a mountain of historical works written at every conceivable level of popularization and specialization.
But most of these works are devoted to specific historical phenomena, or at most to a comparison between two or three; and those which attempt more general surveys tend to be either inordinately long or else inordinately abstract.
Where does one turn for a brief summary of the ground-rules?
A bluffer's guide to the behaviour of pre-modern societies does not seem to be available. What this book attempts is precisely that: to offer a bluffer's guide to the nature of pre-industrial societies, or more precisely to pre-industrial societies of the complex type (omitting primitive societies whose nature, again, is different).
It sketches out the general anatomy of all such societies without attempting a full description of any one; and it is neither excessively long nor (it is hoped) excessively abstract.
Armed with this book, the reader ought to find the specific cultures, societies, institutions and events of pre-industrial history considerable less puzzling than they are when approached directly.
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Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:228 pages
- Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Publication Date:29/09/1989
- Category:
- ISBN:9780631156628
Information
-
Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:228 pages
- Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Publication Date:29/09/1989
- Category:
- ISBN:9780631156628