Living Political Biography : Narrating 20th Century European Lives

Historical political biography is a popular genre, capable of reaching a wide audience. It is also a genre closely associated with the modern nation-state. It often recounts the lives of great men in the service of the nation, but is there a way beyond this methodological nationalism? This book revisits biography as a historical and narrative genre. It explores and explicates the new analytical potentials of political biographical research in view of the recent transnational and sociological 'turns' in international and European political history. In doing so, the book attempts to facilitate exchange between scholars of biographical and 20th century European political historical research. With contributions by Birgitte Possing, Christoffer Kølvraa, Anne Deighton, Jan-Henrik Meyer, Jan van der Harst, Karl Christian Lammers, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Thorsten Borring Olesen, Niels Wium Olesen, Johnny Laursen and Mark F Gilbert.