THE HISTORY MAKERS is an epic exploration of who writes about the past and how the biases of certain storytellers - whether Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare or Simon Schama -continue to influence our ideas about history (and about who we are) today.There are many stories we can spin about years gone by, but which accounts come to be told, and by whom? A single author can deeply shape our understanding through the prism of his or her own beliefs. Richard Cohen reveals how professional historians and other equally significant witnesses (such as the writers of the Bible, major novelists, dramatists, journalists and political propagandists) influence what become the accepted records of human experience. Is there, he asks, even such a thing as "objective" history? And what is it to call someone a historian in the first place?The depth of Cohen's inquiry and the delight he takes in his subjects - even the practitioners of what he calls "Bad History," those thieves of history who twist reality to glorify themselves and conceal their or their country's behaviour - make this an unusually authoritative and supremely entertaining volume.Cohen investigates the published works and private utterances of our greatest historical thinkers to discover the agendas that informed their views of the world, and which in so many ways have informed ours. From the origins of history-writing, when such an idea seemed itself revolutionary, through to television and the digital age, THE HISTORY MAKERS abounds in captivating figures brought to vivid life, from Thucydides and Tacitus to Voltaire and Gibbon, from Winston Churchill to Mary Beard. Rich in character, complex truths and surprising anecdotes, the result is a unique exploration of both the aims and craft of history-making that will lead us to think anew about our past and ourselves.

歴史は事実の集積ではなく、語り手の情熱と偏見が織りなす変幻自在な物語である。本書は、ヘロドトスからチャーチルまで、歴史を「作った」人々の野心と歪みに光を当てます。彼らがいかにして「正史」を構築したのかを解き明かす筆致は、まるで知的な迷宮を彷徨うかのようなスリルに満ちています。 客観性という神話に挑み、主観が歴史に命を吹き込むプロセスを活写した点は、本作の白眉です。記録者が抱く政治的意図や文学的野心までも剥き出しにするコーエンの視点は、私たちが信じる世界そのものを揺さぶります。真実を巡る闘争の記録として、読者の歴史観を根底から塗り替える一冊となるでしょう。