In this engaging intellectual autobiography Georges Duby looks back on acareer that has led him to be called one of the most distinguished historiansin the West... » 

In this engaging intellectual autobiography Georges Duby looks back on acareer that has led him to be called one of the most distinguished historiansin the Western world.Since its beginning in the 1940s Dubys career has been rich and variedencompassing economic history social history the history of mentalites arthistory microhistory urban history the history of women and sexuality andmost recently the Churchs influence on feudal society. In retracing thissingular career path Duby candidly remembers his lifes most formativeinfluences including the legendary historians Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvrethe Annales School so closely associated with them and the College de France.Duby also offers insights about the proper methods of gathering and usingarchival data and on constructing penetrating interpretations of the documents.Indeed his discussion of how he chose his subjects collected his materialsdeveloped the arguments erected the scaffolding and constructed his thesesoffers the best introduction to the craft available to aspiring historians.Candid and charming this book is both a memoir of one of this centurys greatscholars and a history of the French historical school since the midtwentiethcentury. It will be required reading for anyone interested in the Frenchacademic milieu medieval history French history or the recording of historyin general.Georges Duby a member of the Academie francaise for many years held thedistinguished chair in medieval history at the College de France. His numerousbooks include The Age of Cathedrals The Knight the Lady and the PriestLove and Marriage in the Middle Ages and The ThreeOrdersall published bythe University of Chicago Press. «