There are two approaches to writing a significant history book. One is ‘going big’ and covering the broadest range of historical phenomena within a large geographical space during a wide time span. This approach makes use of vast and variegated historical bibliographies and well-selected primary sources. The result is an all-encompassing interpretation that helps to make sense of the chaotic matter of history. The other approach to writing a major contribution to historiography implies delving into the details instead: applying a microscope onto a few important historical events that took place in circumscribed time-spaces; gathering and closely analysing a great amount of empirical material that allows the researcher to provide a nuanced description of such events. This method has the ability to transform our understanding of history just as it can uncover previously unperceived factors that contributed to pushing historical events towards a specific direction. Mark Jones’ book is a clear example of this second model of history writing, and there are reasons to believe that it will be regarded as a turning point in the way in which historians explain post-First World War revolutionary processes and political violence in the European continent.

中文翻译：

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建立魏玛：暴力与 1918-1919 年的德国革命

写一本重要的历史书有两种方法。一是“做大”，涵盖大地理空间、大时间跨度、最广范围的历史现象。这种方法利用了大量多样的历史书目和精心挑选的原始资料。结果是一个包罗万象的解释，有助于理解历史的混乱问题。另一种为史学撰写重大贡献的方法是深入研究细节：用显微镜观察发生在有限时空内的一些重要历史事件；收集并仔细分析大量经验材料，使研究人员能够对此类事件进行细致入微的描述。这种方法有能力改变我们对历史的理解，正如它可以揭示以前未察觉的因素，这些因素有助于将历史事件推向特定方向。马克琼斯的书是第二种历史写作模式的一个明显例子，有理由相信它将被视为历史学家解释第一次世界大战后革命进程和政治暴力的方式的转折点。欧洲大陆。