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On Deep History and the Brain

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( 257 ratings, 38 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
On Deep History and the Brain by Daniel Lord Smail explores the concept of deep history, extending our understanding of history beyond traditional recorded timelines into the prehistoric past. Smail examines how neuroscience and biological evolution insights can illuminate human behaviour throughout vast time spans, offering a revolutionary perspective that challenges conventional demarcations between history and prehistory.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're intrigued by the intersection of history and science, exploring how biology and neuroscience can inform our understanding of human history. This work may appeal to those interested in a fresh perspective on historical analysis that challenges traditional timelines and methodologies.

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Dissolves the logic of a beginning based on writing, civilization, or historical consciousness and offers a model for a history that escapes the continuing grip of the Judeo-Christian time frame. This book presents a case for bringing neuroscience and neurobiology into the realm of history.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

When does history begin? What characterizes it? This brilliant and beautifully written book dissolves the logic of a beginning based on writing, civilisation, or historical consciousness and offers a model for a history that escapes the continuing grip of the Judeo-Christian time frame.

On Deep History and the Brain by Daniel Lord Smail argues that in the wake of the Decade of the Brain and the best-selling historical work of scientists like Jared Diamond, the time has come for fundamentally new ways of thinking about our past. He shows how recent work in evolution and paleohistory makes it possible to join the deep past with the recent past and abandon, once and for all, the idea of prehistory.

Making an enormous literature accessible to the general reader, he lays out a bold new case for bringing neuroscience and neurobiology into the realm of history.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

On Deep History and the Brain by Daniel Lord Smail is praised for its intelligent and thought-provoking analysis, offering a creative synthesis of ideas that reimagines the interplay between biology and culture. The book has been described as both engaging and provocative, with reviewers noting its capacity to invigorate and challenge conventional historical narratives. Overall, it’s considered a pioneering and intriguing exploration of deep history.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780520258129

Publisher: University of California Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 15 November 2007

Country: United States

Imprint: University of California Press

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 20.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 318g

Pages: 286

About the Author

Daniel Lord Smail is Professor of History at Harvard University. He is the author of Imaginary Cartographies (1999), which won the American Historical Association's Herbert Baxter Adams Prize and the Social Science History Association's President's Award; The Consumption of Justice (2003), which won the Law and Society Association's James Willard Hurst Prize; and co-editor of Fama: The Politics of Talk and Reputation in Medieval Europe (2003).

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