Francis Parkman, historian as hero

by Wilbur R. Jacobs

A historian who lived the kind of history he wrote, Francis Parkman is a major--and controversial--figure in American historiography. His narrative style, while popular with readers wanting a "good story," has raised many questions with professional historians. Was Parkman writing history or historical fiction? Did he color historical figures with his own heroic self-image? Was his objectivity compromised by his "unbending, conservative, Brahmin" values? These are some of the many issues that Wilbur Jacobs treats in this thought-provoking study.