What do historians really think about biography?

This article explores the ways in which historians have thought about biography as a genre of writing about the past and how these attitudes have changed over the last fifty years or so, from skepticism and even hostility to increasing acceptance and even advocacy. It also examines some of the ways in which biography itself has evolved and the contribution of historians to this evolution, before concluding with an example from the author’s forthcoming biography of the 19th-century Spanish military and political figure Baldomero Espartero (1793-1879).This article explores the ways in which historians have thought about biography as a genre of writing about the past and how these attitudes have changed over the last fifty years or so, from skepticism and even hostility to increasing acceptance and even advocacy. It also examines some of the ways in which biography itself has evolved and the contribution of historians to this evolution, before concluding with an example from the author’s forthcoming biography of the 19th-century Spanish military and political figure Baldomero Espartero (1793-1879).***O que os historiadores realmente pensam sobre a biografia?***Este artigo examinava as varias caminhas que os historiadores pensava sobre o válor do gênero da biografia nas considerações do nosso passado, e a mudança nas manieras de ver biografia entre nos ultimos cinquentos anos: atitudes alterava de cetecismo e oposição ao aceitação, confiança, e promoçåo da biografia a un gênero respeitável da História. Tambem, o artigo considerava o evolução da biografia e o contribução dos Historiadores ao aquele evolução. Finalemente, o artigo vai concluir com un exemplo da biografia – que vai publicar sobre Baldomero Espartero (1793-1879) – escrevendo do mesmo autor deste artigo