Who is the historian? What do historians do? Where do their explorations take them? What is the impact of the digital age on historical research?

In an affable style, Nigel A. Raab answers these questions for those intrigued by the past. Each chapter describes a specific aspect of "doing history," beginning in the physical spaces of archives and libraries around the globe. Readers are then introduced to the sources—texts, oral interviews, films, and objects—which historians interpret. Raab points out that historians do not work alone with their materials; rather, archivists, librarians, and others play a crucial role in what he calls the web of the historian's work. Readers will also learn about the skill set imparted to those pursuing a historical education. In the final chapter, Raab brings all these themes together to demonstrate the value of the historian in the contemporary world.

Nigel A. Raab is Associate Professor of History at Loyola Marymount University. He is the author of Democracy Burning? Urban Fire Departments and the Limits of Civil Society in Late Imperial Russia, 1850–1914 (2011), and The Crisis from Within: Historians, Theory, and the Humanities (2015.

Nigel A. Raab's profile page

It is a welcome acknowledgement by the author that the historian depends on many other people in the universe of doing history but also acknowledges that the individual historian works alone but often also in collaboration and often outside academe. The great strength of this book is the acknowledgment that historians never really work in isolation.

<i>Left History</i>

Nigel A. Raab's engaging style, starting with his own admission of uncertainty as a student, and his undisguised passion for history will be both a comfort and an inspiration for those who are looking for direction. His gentle instruction as to how to make yourself a better historian will likewise be a helpful tool for those who are just beginning to learn how to investigate the past.

<i>Medievalists.net</i>