Dr. Ran Zwigenberg

I read this book when I was still trying to decide whether to take the leap into a Ph.D. program or not. It showed me the creativity, intellectual daring, and even magic that are involved in writing history. In the introduction, Darnton writes, “We constantly need to be shaken out of a false sense of familiarity with the past, to be administered doses of cultural shock,” and the book for me is a constant reminder of how weird, wonderful, and important is what we do.