Reading Primary Sources is at once a bold and useful book . With felicity and insight, the authors of this volume show us how modern historians now read primary sources . A wonderful volume for teachers and students alike. Helmut Walser Smith, Vanderbilt University, USA Finally, a text that puts theory into practice! Reading Primary Sources will help students to understand key concepts in historical analysis and recent historiographical trends and guide them in the analysis of various genres of historical texts. Caroline Hoefferle, Wingate University, USA Primary sources are not only the very basis of historical research, but are also widely used in undergraduate teaching as a way to introduce students to voices from the past. The contributors to this book explore various traditions in source-criticism, explain the different ways documents can be read, and use exciting examples from their own research to suggest the insights (and also difficulties) texts might offer. Taking into account the huge expansion in the range of primary sources used by historians, the volume includes chapters on opinion polls, surveillance reports, testimony, and court files in addition to more traditional genres such as letters, memoranda, diaries, novels, newspapers, political speeches, and autobiography. To aid the reader's understanding of source criticism, the chapters in the first part of this unique volume give an overview of both traditional and new methodological approaches to the use of primary documents.

In addition, the introduction offers an accessible checklist suggesting some of the most important steps for interpreting historical sources. Taking examples of sources from many European countries and the USA, and providing up-to-date information on the most widely used textual sources, this is the perfect companion for every student of history who wants to engage with primary sources.