Crossing Over: academic and popular history

This article considers the divide between popular and academic history, especially as perceived by popular and academic historians. It argues that the two forms of history, though clearly connected to one another, have different priorities and audiences. In particular, where academic historians prize originality of research, popular historians will tend to prize powerful storytelling. The article suggests that popular historians could acknowledge more handsomely that many do owe their debt to the research findings of academic historians, while in their turn academic historians have much to learn from popular historians about how to communicate the pleasures and importance of understanding the past.