A Social History of Knowledge II

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Peter Burke follows up his magisterial Social History ofKnowledge, picking up where the first volume left off around1750 at the publication of the French Encyclopédie andfollowing the story through to Wikipedia. Like the previous volume,it offers a social history (or a retrospective sociology ofknowledge) in the sense that it focuses not on individuals but ongroups, institutions, collective practices and general trends. The book is divided into 3 parts. The first argues thatactivities which appear to be timeless - gathering knowledge,analysing, disseminating and employing it - are in fact time-boundand take different forms in different periods and places. Thesecond part tries to counter the tendency to write a triumphalisthistory of the 'growth' of knowledge by discussing losses ofknowledge and the price of specialization. The third part offersgeographical, sociological and chronological overviews, contrastingthe experience of centres and peripheries and arguing that each ofthe main trends of the period - professionalization,secularization, nationalization, democratization, etc, coexistedand interacted with its opposite. As ever, Peter Burke presents a breath-taking range ofscholarship in prose of exemplary clarity and accessibility. Thishighly anticipated second volume will be essential reading acrossthe humanities and social sciences.

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Peter Burke

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"A glittering cabinet of intellectual curiosities, a systematic study of the collecting, analysing, disseminating, storing, accessing, using and losing of knowledge in the western world from the mid-18th century to the 'information overload' of today ... Within this treasure chest there beats an endearingly human heart; one warms to an exemplary scholar who expresses the earnest hope that readers 'will not feel that I have contributed to information overload as well as discussing it'." History Today "In this remarkable tour de force Peter Burke paints a big picture of the history of knowledge in the West since 1750. His expert synthesis, which includes many kinds of general facts and figures, delves with nuance into counter-trends as well as trends and highlights a wealth of telling examples from a vast range of places and fields of academic and government inquiry. An invaluable guide for expert and novice alike." Ann Blair, Harvard University "Written with the ease of erudition, A Social History of Knowledge II is at once a thought-provoking essay on the character of our information age and a new cartography of its many territories. From agrochemistry to zoology, fingerprints to filing cabinets, it is encyclopedic, curious, and exhilarating to read." Daniel Rosenberg, University of Oregon
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