Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/12/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 07:15 PM 12/4/2008, Douglas Barry wrote: >Journos by their nature like a story, so perhaps they do right history >while >they write history while academics pick up left history and try to write >the >facts. Not that they always succeed.... <grin> > >Right off to bed, it's a Roman morning on the morrow & there'll be an M3 in >the travel bag. I am incapable of unravelling your conundrum. A Journalist who wishes to learn the rather basic tasks of consulting primary and secondary sources and who has a clear head for analysis can certainly do a fine job of wiring history. Manchester did this very well in the US -- the US Marine Corps hated him but, otherwise, his works were quite well received for what they were, even in academic circles. Other examples abound: most of the super-critical falsified histories tearing at the current US President have been applauded by academic critics despite their lack of credible content. Tom Pat Coogan's work is rather decent in terms of balance and of a proper use of sources both primary and secondary. Yes, it adulates Collins, but, then, consider the work of Theodore Sorenson, who made a living out of praising one of the weakest Presidents the US has had in recent years, John F Kennedy. "Adulation" is not the reason Tim Pat Coogan is disliked by Irish academics -- after all, he followed his work on Collins with a relatively fair work on Dev. No, the reason is simple: Coogan's origins were from journalism and he was not, therefore, part of the tribe, the Sainted Order of Academia. Just by way of comparison, I am both a recovering journalist and a recovering academic -- I do have an MA in Classical Languages -- and, yes, I know the distinction between primary and secondary sources. I had to work through both in producing both of my books on recent camera history. I put a LOT of work in both books, hours never compensated by commissions but, what the hey, both were labors of love. I would ask all to turn this into private e-mial. Brian, rest easy: I will NOT rejoin that dangerously left-wing List, the LUGForm. I shall not respond on-list n this again. Marc msmall@aya.yale.edu Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!