Not Bunk
Why Study History? Reflecting on
the Importance of the Past
by John Fea
Baker Academic, 2013
(191 pages, $19.99, paperback)
reviewed by Graeme Hunter
Christian Historian John Fea is candid about the ambitions of his book. He wants "to blend the theoretical and the practical in jargon-free, easily accessible prose" in order to "win some converts" to the pursuit of the study of history. Why Study History is therefore a timely book. Enrollments in departments of history, and in other disciplines in the humanities, are in steep decline across North America. Students are deserting subjects they know to be interesting and entering others they hope will be marketable. Fea's book is therefore likely to interest not only freshmen considering the study of history, but also parents, who may be wondering about the wisdom of subsidizing such a choice.
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Graeme Hunter is a contributing editor to Touchstone and Research Professor of Philosophy at Dominican University College in Ottawa. He is the author of Radical Protestantism in Spinoza's Thought (Ashgate).
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