Historians' Autobiographies as Historiographical Inquiry : A Global Perspective

This Element examines 20 global historians' autobiographies, focusing on their memories, intellectual self-accounting, social activism, classical Chinese and Islamic traditions, modernization, and post-colonial experiences. It offers a literary and historical approach, emphasizing the historiographical dimension and value of these autobiographies.

This book analyses the autobiographies of historians from a global perspective and looks at all eras, from antiquity to the present day. It includes 20 autobiographies: Lucian of Samosata''s memories in antiquity; Vico''s, Gibbon''s and Adams'' intellectual self-accounting in modernity; autobiographical revelations and social activism of 20th century women historians such as Steedman, Conway, and Gerda Lerner; classical Chinese and Islamic traditions through the autobiographies of Sima Quian and Ibn Khaldun; the perplexities inherent in the modernisation of Japan (Fukuzama Yukichi), China (Gu Jiegang), India (Nirad Chaudhuri) and Egypt (Taha Hussein); and traumatic post-colonial experiences in Africa (Bethwell Ogot), Latin America (Carlos Eire) and Southeast Asia (Wang Gungwu). The book proposes a literary and historical approach to these autobiographies, emphasising its historiographical dimension and value.