Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History

Silencing the Past is a thought-provoking analysis of historical narrative. Taking examples ranging from the Haitian Revolution to Columbus Day, Michel-Rolph Trouillot demonstrates how power operates, often invisibly, at all stages in the making of history to silence certain voices.

"Makes the postmodernist debate come alive."

--Choice "Trouillot, a widely respected scholar of Haitian history . . . is a first-rate scholar with provocative ideas . . . Serious students of history should find his work a feast for the mind."

--Jay Freedman, Booklist "Elegantly written and richly allusive, . . . Silencing the Past is an important contribution to the anthropology of history. Its most lasting impression is made perhaps by Trouillot's own voice--endlessly agile, sometimes cuttingly funny, but always evocative in a direct and powerful, almost poetic way."

--Donald L. Donham, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute "A sparkling interrogation of the past. . . . A beautifully written, superior book."

--Foreign Affairs "Silencing the Past is a polished personal essay on the meanings of history. . . . [It] is filled with wisdom and humanity."

--Bernard Mergen, American Studies International "An eloquent book."

--Choice "Written with clarity, wit, and style throughout, this book is for everyone interested in historical culture."

--Civilization "A beautifully written book, exciting in its challenges."

--Eric R. Wolf "Aphoristic and witty, . . . a hard-nosed look at the soft edges of public discourse about the past."

--Arjun Appadurai