Hi AskHistorians,
Kind of a shot in the dark, but I'm looking for great examples of historiography for a generally "meh I'm bored" high school student. The historical topic isn't important - mostly looking just for compelling writing and a clear structure so the student can get an idea of what it means to place and compare sources in their historical context.
Any and all pointers would be much appreciated. Also, if this isn't the right subreddit please let me know and sorry.
Thanks!
They might enjoy Michael Mann's The Dark Side of Democracy. It uses historic examples (including the USA) to question the Democratic Peace Theory and link as inextricable the idea of democratic rule and genocide.
Historiography used to combat assumptions. There is also a shorter paper by the same title and author that precedes this book.
If you are looking for someone to prove why history is important, Margret McMillan's Dangerous Games will do so and will do so quite loudly. It's a boisterous read that is bound to generate some discussion and debate. It's historiography without calling itself historiography. She's even able to sneak in some Collinswood without you realizing it. It's a collection of case studies, so she bounces around a lot. Some of the chapters are up on Amazon; I'd read a few pages and see if the flavor appeals to you.
Best of all for your purposes though - it's short.