Historians are a contentious lot.

While their arguments are usually conducted in

polite language, the disputations are conducted on a number of fronts at once, a
nd the frame of mind of the disputants ranges from a sporting pleasure with maki
ng point after point to a savage determination to win the day. Although a sense o
f negativity creeps into this notion of Manning s, a strengthening of world histor
y can also emerge from this back and forth debate. World history will take shape
as scholars push each other to clarify and defend ideas, while remaining skepti
cal and critical readers. This debate is key to avoiding either a stagnation of
ideas or a dilution of possible new insights. As Manning asserts, The exciting de
bates and the real advances in knowledge come when multiple scholars are working
on related topics, testing their assumptions, data, and interpretations against
each other s. As world history moves forward, as a discipline, historians would do
well to keep this in mind. In addition to internal debate, a need to defend wor
ld history as a discipline is st...
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