How do books preserve history?

Question

How do books preserve history? Please give an explaination and an example...thanks!

Answer 1

If your would read Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, you can step into 18th century England. You can almost see being there.

When reading Tom Sayer, or Huckleberry Finn, you immerse yourself into pre civil war southern Missouri from the eyes of a youth.

Reading the lliad and Odyssey takes one back to 4 century BC.

And although it is highly critical, controversial, and difficult to read, read Uncle Toms Cabin, and you get a picture of slavery in pre civil war US.

Even though these books are fiction based upon fact the people who wrote them described the times and stories that they lived in, barring Samuel Clemens most scholars believe that his stories are of his child hood.

One fallacy of history is we take it from the prospective of the future looking into the past, and we tend to make assumptions that bind events and people together as if a master plan existed to bring forward the results that transpired. When reading book written from an earlier period we are able to catch a glimpse of what life was like long before we existed.

I enjoy reading an old book written a hundred years ago more enjoyable the today's best sellers, especially when they are non-fiction.
To find that people hundreds of years ago went through the same things we go through today, experience the same things is somehow reassuring.

Answer 2

They don't preserve history, they preserve opinion and perception. This is why it's important to read several sources of research so that you can get closer to the truth by peeling away the bias and find the commonality. However sometimes commonly help beliefs are swept away by a particular historian's research which uncoveres the real truth. Many people have been slandered in history through rumor and gossip being recorded as truth and it can take a very long time for the record to be set straight. In short history is not an exact science ... find the best most respected sources, but always cross check against other research ... then it's up to you.

Answer 3

THEY ARE A WRITEN DOCUMENT. IF THINGS WERE NEVER PUT INTO WRTING THEY'D NEVER BE PASSED ON TO NEXT GENERATIONS. LETS SAY YOU HAD A GREAT DAY YESTERDAY. IF YOU NEVER PUT IT IN WRITING 10 YEARS + FROM NOW NOBODY WILL KNOW ABOUT IT. IF YOU VERBALLY PASS IT ON THE TRANSLATION GETS LOST LLIKE IN A GAME OF TELEPHONE.