Too many young historians are quitting academia for the fool’s gold of trade publishing.I don't think we're in Canada anymore, Toto. The British history professor Sir Keith Thomas has been denouncing young historians who complete a doctoral thesis and then "rather than present it in a conventional academic form, immediately hire an agent, cut out the footnotes, jazz it all up a bit and try to produce a historical bestseller from what would have otherwise been a perfectly good academic work."
In Britain, I guess that pretty much has been the career track of this guy and this guy for sure and probably others. But has this ever been the career of a Canadian historian? Could it ever be? Sorry, Sir Keith, I can't help wishing there were some.
Even in Britain, selling out for the money seems pretty implausible. Fellow professor Tim Stanley thinks the choice is risky, the pay lousy -- and the cause is quite different:
The fact that young historians still choose to walk away from [ academia] is a damning indictment of how unappealing the career has become.
