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This collection of twenty-nine essays, ranging from ancient to modern
history and including Arabic-Islamic prospography, covers all aspects of
prosopography as currently practised. The book provides an introduction for
newcomers who have picked up hints that they should be looking at
prosopography, but have little idea of what it is and how it operates. For more
experienced practitioners it presents a range of different approaches and new
applications of the prosopographical method.
The introductory material aims at being helpful to
both audiences by operating at two different levels. A primary level gives a
broad introduction to prosopography as a whole and a discussion of how it
relates to different areas of history and allied disciplines. For the complete,
or relative, beginner, the Short Manual to the Art of Prosopography is the
essential starting point. A secondary level provides more advanced discussion
of certain aspects, such as a survey of the evolution of ‘prosopography’ as
both word and method, the central question of identity, the biographical
register and the question of names. The
latter part of the book (Part II) offers a number of case studies as concrete
illustrations of aspects of the method, such as defining the population to be
studied and establishing the criteria on which a study will be based, or
different analytical approaches, such as Social Network Analysis. A substantial
Select Bibliography is also included.
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