John Lukacs, A Student's Guide to the Study of History. (Wilmington: lSI Books, 2000). Paperback, 49 pp. ISBN 188292641-2 $5.95.
One of the criticisms of members oflocal historical societies is that they are too local. They are, it is charged, too absorbed in tax lists and census rolls to see the broader panorama of the past. They can trace a tide or transcribe the inventory of a will, but amateurs are seen by some professionals as akin to children who can recite a list of the kings of England. In defense of amateurs, let it be said that many are in fact genealogists and by nature think more like statisticians than like poets, and most have come to their study late in life, hoping their grandchildren will give a care and wishing their parents had written something down.
Enter John Lukacs, professor emeritus of history at Chestnut Hill College, and this engaging little book. In fewer than 50 pages Lukacs introduces one to the study of history, which he calls "the remembered past." Lukacs's booklet is part of a useful new series by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (other volumes include Ralph Mcinerny on philosophy and Wilfed McClay on American history), and it distills the at times ponderous and abstruse observations in his sprawling Historical Consciousness (1968). Here Lukacs brisldy provides stimulating advice on how one ought to set about reading and writing history. Although his words are aimed at the bewildered undergraduate, those students outside the walls of academe also will benefit from his wise guidance.
On April 6, 1784, in the county courthouse in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the Board of Trustees of the fledgling Dickinson College met and asked two of its members, John Dickinson and Benjamin Rush, to devise a seal for the college.