理查德-艾文斯(Richard J．Evans)，当代杰出的历史学家，剑桥大学近现代史钦定讲座教授。著作等身，曾获多种奖项与奖励。在迄今为止他出版的近二十本著作中，影响最大的书当属Deathin Hamburg：SocietyandPolitics the Choler a Yearsl830-1910(Oxford，1987)，InHitler's Shadow：WestGermanHistorians andtheAttempttoEscapefrom the NaziPast(New York，1989)，Rituals ofRetribution(Oxford，1996)，Talesfrom the German Underworld(New Haven and London，1998)，The ThirdReich in Powerl933-1939(London and NewYork，2005)等。

著作详细目录

The Feminist Movement In Germany, 1894–1933, London: Sage Publications, 1976.

"German Women and the Triumph of Hitler," The Journal of Modern History Vol. 48, No. 1, March 1976

The Feminists: Women's Emancipation Movements in Europe, America and Australasia, 1840–1920, London: C. Helm, 1977.

Society And Politics In Wilhelmine Germany edited by R. J. Evans, London: Croom Helm, 1980, 1978.

Review article: "The History of European Women: A Critical Survey of Recent Research," The Journal of Modern History Vol. 52, No. 4, December 1980

The German Family: Essays on the Social History of The Family in Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Germany, London: C. Helm ; Totowa, N. J.: Barnes & Noble Books, 1981.

The German Working Class, 1888–1933: The Politics Of Everyday Life, London: Croom Helm ; Totowa, N. J.: Barnes & Noble, 1982.

The German Peasantry: Conflict And Community in Rural Society from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Centuries edited by Richard J. Evans and W. R. Lee, London: Croom Helm, 1986.

The German Unemployed: Experiences And Consequences Of Mass Unemployment From The Weimar Republic To The Third Reich, London: C. Helm, 1987.

Rethinking German History: Nineteenth-Century Germany And The Origins Of The Third Reich, London: Allen and Unwin, 1987.

Comrades And Sisters: Feminism, Socialism, And Pacifism In Europe, 1870–1945, Brighton, Sussex: Wheatsheaf Books; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987.

"The New Nationalism and the Old History: Perspectives on the West German Historikerstreit," The Journal of Modern History, Volume 59, No. 4, December 1987, pages 761–97

Death In Hamburg: Society And Politics In The Cholera Years, 1830–1910 Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987.

The German Underworld: Deviants And Outcasts In German history, London: Routledge, 1988.

In Hitler's Shadow: West German Historians And The Attempt To Escape From The Nazi Past, London: I. B. Tauris, 1989, ISBN 1-85043-146-9.

Proletarians And Politics: Socialism, Protest, And The Working Class In Germany Before The First World War, New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990.

The German Bourgeoisie: Essays On The Social History Of The German Middle Class From The Late Eighteenth To The Early Twentieth Century London: Routledge, 1991.

Rituals Of Retribution: Capital Punishment In Germany 1600–1987, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Rereading German History: From Unification To Reunification, 1800–1996, London; New York: Routledge, 1997.

Tales From The German Underworld: Crime And Punishment In The Nineteenth Century, New Haven [Conn.]; London: Yale University Press, 1998.

In Defense of History, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1999.

Lying About Hitler: History, Holocaust, And The David Irving Trial, New York: Basic Books, 2001; published in the United Kingdom as Telling Lies About Hitler: The Holocaust, History and the David Irving Trial, Verso Books, 2002.

The Coming Of The Third Reich, London: Allen Lane, 2003.

The Third Reich In Power, 1933–1939, New York: Penguin, 2005.

The Third Reich at War: How the Nazis Led Germany from Conquest to Disaster , London: Allen Lane, 2008.

Cosmopolitan Islanders: British Historians and The European Continent, Cambridge University Press, 2009

在《捍卫历史》中，艾文斯从史学史的角度展开讨论，辅以其本人大量的实际研究经验，旁征博引、参照比对，既很好总结与反思了以卡尔与艾尔顿为代表的现代主义史学理论乃至19、20世纪的史学史与史学思想，还讨论了材料、证据、因果关系、客观性等关键的历史概念及其意义变化，有理有据地反击了激进的后现代主义对历史学的进攻。

本书适合从事相关研究工作的人员参考阅读。

在本书中，艾文斯从史学史的角度展开讨论，辅以其本人大量的实际研究经验，旁征博引、参照比对，既很好总结与反思了以卡尔与艾尔顿为代表的现代主义史学理论乃至19、20世纪的史学史与史学思想，还讨论了材料、证据、因果关系、客观性等关键的历史概念及其意义变化，有理有据地反击了激进的后现代主义对历史学的进攻。艾文斯强调历史学是一门经验主义的学科，它更关注知识的内容而非本质，历史学家若是足够小心谨慎，客观的历史知识既是可以期望的，也是能够获得的。可艾文斯本人亦非一个后现代主义的反对者，他指出后现代主义对历史学的冲击产生了许多有益影响，历史学家应该将这些有益的影响贯彻到当下的历史研究中。

目 录 ：

导论

第一章 史学史

第二章 历史学、科学与道德

第三章 史家及其事实

第四章 材料和话语

第五章 历史中的因果关系

第六章 社会与个人

第七章 知识和权力

第八章 客观性及其局限

跋

进阶阅读书目

索引

译后记