How to Write the History of the New World Histories, Epistemologies, and Identities in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World |
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| Author:
| Cañizares-Esguerra, Jorge
Cañizares-Esguerra, Jorge |
| Series title: | Cultural Sitings Ser. |
| ISBN: | 978-0-8047-4693-9 |
| Publication Date: | Apr 2002 |
| Publisher: | Stanford University Press
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| Book Format: | Paperback |
| List Price: | USD $40.00 |
Book Description:
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An
Economist Book of the Year, 2001. In the 18th century, a debate ensued over the French naturalist Buffon's contention that the New World was in fact geologically new. Historians, naturalists, and philosophers clashed over Buffon's view. This book maintains that the "dispute" was also a debate over historical authority: upon whose sources and facts should naturalists and historians reconstruct the history of the New World and its people. In addressing this question, the...
More DescriptionAn Economist Book of the Year, 2001.
In the 18th century, a debate ensued over the French naturalist Buffon's contention that the New World was in fact geologically new. Historians, naturalists, and philosophers clashed over Buffon's view. This book maintains that the "dispute" was also a debate over historical authority: upon whose sources and facts should naturalists and historians reconstruct the history of the New World and its people. In addressing this question, the author offers a strikingly novel interpretation of the Enlightenment.