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Palgrave Advances in World Histories pp 64–89Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Scales

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Abstract

The issue of scale is extremely important in historical teaching and research, yet historians have not given it the consideration it deserves.2 The issue has certainly not been discussed as much as other familiar topics such as the problem of ‘objectivity’ or ‘how historians use sources’ or whether or not historians can and should make moral judgements.3 Yet no historian interested in world history can ignore the problem of scale, because world history requires us to think about the past on scales that challenge some basic conventions of modern historical scholarship.

‘Universal history comprehends the past life of mankind, not in its particular relations and trends, but in its fullness and totality.’

Leopold von Ranke1

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Authors
  1. David Christian
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Modern History, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Marnie Hughes-Warrington (Senior Lecturer) (Senior Lecturer)

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© 2005 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Christian, D. (2005). Scales. In: Hughes-Warrington, M. (eds) Palgrave Advances in World Histories. Palgrave Advances. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523401_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523401_4

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4039-1278-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-230-52340-1

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)

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