eHistory Introduction: Ridpath's Writing World: |
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John Clarke Ridpath’s History of the World provides
readers a wealth of knowledge beginning with the earliest Middle East
civilizations and ending with the First World War. In nine enterprising
volumes, Ridpath demonstrated political, economic, and social history
in virtually every major and minor civilization, an amazing achievement
for a self-taught academic raised in severe poverty in Indiana. Born
in 1840, Ridpath avoided the horrors of the American Civil War, becoming
a school principal in Thorntown, Indiana. In the 1870s, he became
a professor of literature and history at Asbury College, later becoming
vice-president and was instrumental in renaming it Depauw University. In
1885, he retired from teaching to pursue historical writing full time,
publishing sixteen total monographs during his career. |
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Ridpath’s History,
although a fantastic encyclopedic resource, does have limitations. Writing
in the late 1880s and 1890s, Ridpath was highly influenced by European
and American nationalism and imperialism. Readers will see the
terms “savages” and “Negroes” applied
to certain peoples, and Africa referred to as the "Dark Continent". By
acknowledging the historical context of Ridpath’s work readers will
therefore be able to examine the imperialistic and nationalistic image
that many late nineteenth-century Europeans and Americans held about many
regions of the world. |
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| Introduction by Josh
Howard |
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