------------ EH.NET BOOK REVIEW --------------
Published by EH.NET (August 2008)

John S. Lyons, Louis P. Cain and Samuel H. Williamson, editors, 
_Reflections on the Cliometrics Revolution: Conversations with Economic 
Historians_.  New York: Routledge, 2008.  xiv + 491 pp. $160 (hardback), 
ISBN: 978-0-415-70091-7.

Reviewed for EH.NET by Michael Haupert, Department of Economics, 
University of Wisconsin?La Crosse.


A better set of editors could not have been selected for the assemblage 
of this volume.  John Lyons, Lou Cain and Sam Williamson certainly know 
the story of cliometrics.  All three have extensive experience in the 
running of the Cliometric Society and deep roots in the annual 
conferences.  Williamson was the original executive director of the 
society, PI for the NSF grant, and editor of the association?s 
newsletter; Cain and Lyons were associate editors for the newsletter 
during Williamson?s term; and Williamson and Cain were among the 
earliest attendees at the annual Clio meetings, then known as the 
Conference on the Application of Economic Theory and Quantitative 
Methods, held on the Purdue University campus.

There is little new here, with the bulk of the text consisting of 
reprints of the ever popular newsletter interviews.  Having said that, 
there is little else with which to find fault in this effort.  The hefty 
price tag will unfortunately deter many potential buyers, but the volume 
does pull together a nice selection of the interviews along with a well 
researched history of the cliometrics revolution and economic history in 
general. All in all the value added by the editors to the interviews is 
considerable.

The bibliography alone, stretching nearly forty pages, makes this book a 
worthy addition to any economic historian?s library.  It is a reference 
of every fundamental building block of economic history and every 
serious study of the role, evolution, and critical review of the 
discipline of economics from a historical perspective.

The interviews themselves have little new material, but pulling them all 
together is a valuable contribution.  They are not merely the first 
several published in the newsletter.  Rather, they represent a carefully 
selected collection, logically organized to help tell the story of the 
?new economic history? revolution that changed the face of the 
discipline and spawned a generation of cliometricians.

The interviews are not all reproduced verbatim.  Some have been updated 
with recent additions by the subjects.  However, these are few in number 
and for the most part update the reader on what he or she probably 
already knew: the recent research interests of the subjects.

After a concise but thorough history of the discipline of economic 
history, the interviews are organized into chapters that detail the 
revolution that became cliometrics.  The editors start with a 
recognition of the preconditions for the new economic history.  In 
?Before the New Economic History: North America? and its companion 
chapter for Great Britain, we meet the forefathers in interviews with 
the likes of Walt Rostow, Moses Abramovitz and Phyllis Deane.  These are 
followed with a chapter focusing on the acknowledged elders of 
cliometrics, Douglass North and William Parker.  There are separate 
chapters of interviews focusing on the cradle of clio at Purdue (Lance 
Davis, Jonathan Hughes and Nate Rosenberg), as well as the workshops of 
two of the most heralded economic historians, Simon Kuznets and 
Alexander Gerschenkron.  Finally, there is a chapter focusing on noted 
expatriates R.M. Hartwell, Eric Jones and Charles Feinstein.  Each of 
these chapters of interviews is preceded by an introductory chapter that 
sets the interviewees? contributions to economic history, and the 
cliometric revolution in particular, in context.  Patrick K. O?Brien 
then provides a critical but fair appraisal of the achievements and 
shortcomings of cliometrics to round off the story.

When it is all added together, we have a book that, while mostly 
reprinted material from the Newsletter of the Cliometric Society, still 
makes a worthwhile contribution.  The bringing together and organizing 
of the interviews in a logical order is of itself a value, especially to 
younger scholars looking to get a sense of the history of the 
discipline, or more seasoned economic historians looking to refresh 
their memories.  The most important contribution made by _Reflections on 
the Cliometrics Revolution_ is the perspective it provides on the 
discipline from the viewpoints of some of its major contributors.

Lyons, Cain and Williamson are to be commended for their efforts.  The 
organization and compilation of this material has brought together for 
the first time the necessary ingredients for telling the story of the 
growth of our discipline.  If you haven?t spent time meeting your 
intellectual ancestors, this is the perfect opportunity to do so.


Mike Haupert (University of Wisconsin?La Crosse) was editor of the 
Newsletter of the Cliometric Society from 2000-08 and recently succeeded 
Lee Craig as the Executive Director of the Cliometric Society.

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