CUP signs History Manifesto

Cambridge University Press (CUP) has signed a book looking at the role role of history in modern culture, and argues for its return as a guide to public life.

The History Manifesto is written by Brown University's Jo Guldi and David Armitage, the chair of history of Harvard.

Commissioning editor for history Liz Friend-Smieth signed world rights to the book directory from the authors.

The book will be published as a paperback title, priced at £12.99, and also made available for free on a bespoke website as a PDF and XML file, under a CC by NC ND (creative commons, non-commerical, no derivatives) licence. It will be the fourth title CUP has published this year simultaneously in OA and print.

She said: "The History Manifesto is a rallying cry to historians and everyone interested in the role of history in contemporary society.  Guldi and Armitage's challenging argument is sure to fuel a wide-ranging debate. We feel very excited to be making these ideas available as widely as possible through Open Access publication as part of the Press’s ongoing commitment to innovative forms of scholarly dissemination."

Armitage said he hoped the book would encourage people to look at longterm historical trends: "The spectre of short-termism haunts our world: quarterly reports, annual audits, electoral cycles all shrink horizons. History can help us see the bigger picture, find watersheds and discern complex causal patterns. For more than a generation, historians have worked on biological timescales of 5-50 years. But longer term narratives are vital for the future of historical scholarship."

The History Manifesto will be published on 3rd October.