Peter Novick

Peter Novick (July 26, 1934, Jersey City – February 17, 2012, Chicago)^[1] was an American historian, and Professor of History at the University of Chicago.^[1][2][3] He was best known for writing That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession and The Holocaust in American Life.^[1] The latter title has also been published as The Holocaust and Collective Memory, especially for non-US anglophonic markets.

Though deemed a precursor, Novick was a sharp critic of Norman Finkelstein, but also of his opponent Alan Dershowitz.^[4] He died in 2012 in Chicago of lung cancer.

That Noble Dream

That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession questions the origins and prevalence of the notion of objectivity in current and 20th century history. It focuses on developments in university history departments within the United States, though it traces the concept of objectivity in history's origins back to 19th century Germany and Leopold von Ranke.^[5]

References

1. Hevesi, Dennis (March 13, 2012). "Peter Novick, Wrote Controversial Book on Holocaust, Dies at 77". New York Times.
2. "Peter Novick, celebrated scholar of history, 1934–2012". March 2, 2012.
3. http://alumniandfriends.uchicago.edu/site/c.mjJXJ7MLIsE/b.8101525/k.8F57/In_Memoriam.htm
4. Kurtzman, Joey (2007-05-08). "Novick Defends Finkelstein by Michael Weiss". Jewcy.com. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
5. Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession, (Cambridge University Press, 2007), 26–28.