Abstract
In this general introduction to the book I lay out the three-part structure of my research of historians serving as expert judicial witnesses in tobacco litigation. The first part introduces the concept of Clio’s Modern Paradox and the issues it implies for historians in court. The second part gives a general introduction to forensic history. By discussing several European and American examples I revaluate the term forensic history as conceived by Alain Wijffels. In the third part of the book I present the results of my research on the involvement of historians in tobacco litigation in the United States of America.
We are like dwarves standing on the shoulders of giants. We see more and farther than our predecessors, not because of the acuteness of our sight or the stature of our body, but because we are carried aloft and elevated by the magnitude of giants.
Bernard de Chartres
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Kelly, Alfred. 1965. Clio and the Court: An Illicit Love Affair. The Supreme Court Review, 119–158.
- 2.
Jones, Harriet, Östberg Kjell, and Randeraad Nico. 2007. Contemporary History on Trial. New York: Manchester University Press.
- 3.
See Richard Wilson’s article in which he analyses different theories on the alleged incompatibility of legal and historical narratives. Wilson, Richard. 2005. Judging History: The Historical Record of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Human Rights Quarterly 27, 908–942. Vladimir Petrovic also examined this incompatibility-thesis at length in his doctoral dissertation. Petrovic, Vladimir. 2009. Historians as Expert Witnesses in the Age of Extremes. http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2009/hphpev01.pdf. Accessed 31 Oct 2014.
- 4.
Hartog, François. 2003. Régimes d’historicité: présentisme et expérience du temps. Paris: Seuil. & Koselleck, Reinhart. 2004. Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time. New York: Columbia University Press. & Bevernage, Berber. 2012. History, Memory, and State-Sponsored Violence. New York: Routledge.
- 5.
Public historians Rosenzweig and Thelen argue in their book on the popular uses of history in American daily life that Americans make the past part of their daily routine. Rosenzweig, Roy, and Thelen, David. 1998. The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life. New York: Columbia University Press. French historian Pierre Nora has examined the significance of historical landscapes for the construction of the French identity. See the multivolume work of Pierre Nora: Nora, Pierre. 1984–1992. Les lieux de mémoire. Vol. 1, 2, and 3. Paris: Gallimard.
- 6.
Wijffels, Alain. 2001. History in Court: Historical Expertise and Methods in a Forensic Context. Leiden: Ius Deco.
- 7.
See all the witness profiles online at: http://www.thejudgeandthehistorian.ugent.be. Accessed 31 Oct 2014. Disclosure: website made and maintained by the author.
Bibliography
Bevernage, Berber. 2012. History, memory, and state-sponsored violence. New York: Routledge.
Hartog, Francois. 2003. Régimes d’historicité: présentisme et expérience du temps. Paris: Seuil.
Harriet, Jones, Kjell Östberg, and Nico Randeraad. 2007. Contemporary history on trial. New York: Manchester University Press.
Kelly, Alfred. 1965. Clio and the court: An Illicit love affair. The Supreme Court Review 1965: 119–158.
Koselleck, Reinhart. 2004. Futures past: On the semantics of historical time. New York: Columbia University Press.
Nora, Pierre. 1984–1992. Les lieux de mémoire. Paris: Gallimard.
Petrovic, Vladimir. 2009. Historians as expert witnesses in the age of extremes. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, presented at the Central European University, Budapest.
Rosenzweig, Roy, and David Thelen. 1998. The presence of the past: Popular uses of history in American life. New York: Columbia University Press.
Wijffels, Alain. 2001. History in court: Historical expertise and methods in a forensic context. Leiden: Ius Deco.
Wilson, Richard. 2005. The historical record of the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Human Rights Quarterly 27: 908–942.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Delafontaine, R. (2015). General Introduction. In: Historians as Expert Judicial Witnesses in Tobacco Litigation. Studies in the History of Law and Justice, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14292-0_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14292-0_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-14291-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-14292-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawLaw and Criminology (R0)