(The Book), is an informative hardback book discussing the development and utility of ANTi-History as a theoretical approach to perform critical historiography. The authors, Nicholas Deal, PhD, Christopher Hartt, PhD and Albert Mills, PhD, are well positioned to engage the subject as each has employed and refined ANTi-History extensively. In fact, Mills, along with Gabrielle Durepos, initially developed ANTi-History 15 years ago and has continued developing the approach to historiography until present. Deal, who trained under Durepos and Mills, provided arguably the most comprehensive review and application of ANTi-History in his dissertation at Saint Mary’s University. Finally, Hartt, the third co-author of this book, provided a significant advancement of the ANTi-History approach with his development of non-corporal actant theory.
The book includes an introduction followed by five chapters, a glossary, references and an index. In addition, the authors include a list of abbreviations, an introduction of themselves as co-authors, a foreword and acknowledgements, which thank an impressive collection of researchers who contributed vignettes at the beginning of each chapter, in which they explained their different experiences when utilizing ANTi-History in their research endeavors.
In the introduction, the authors state succinctly their primary goal of answering “What is ANTi-History, how can it be used, and why is it relevant today” (Deal, Hartt, and Mills, 2024, p. 2). The introduction also serves to provide an explanation of why this book is needed right now, as well as an overview of the chapters that follow. The authors also highlight the desired outcomes they hope the book achieves by (re)introducing ANTi-History; outlining the potential of ANTi-History; and tracing the development of published ANTi-History research. Staying true to ANTi-History, the authors also utilize the introduction to explain their positions and motivations that influence their approach to their coverage of ANTi-History in the book. In other words, they explain how their position as actors, with regards to ANTi-History, informs their interpretation of the development and utility of ANTi-History. It is particularly apparent through the authors’ own admission, that a primary goal of the book is to promote the utility of ANTi-history, while also acknowledging and addressing criticisms of ANTi-History.
In the proceeding chapters, the authors elaborate on ANTi-History’s development, theoretical foundations, applications, geographical dissemination, and future potential. In chapter 1, Deal et al. tell the story of the early development of ANTi-History with a particular focus on its antecedents, formation, and elements. In the following chapter, the authors engage in a detailed review of the scholarship that serves as the theoretical foundation of ANTi-History, as well as review the works that further the theorizing of ANTi-History. Scholars interested in understanding or utilizing ANTI-History in their research will likely find Chapter 3 as particularly helpful. In this section, the authors provide detailed examples of the application of ANTi-History by researchers by including contexts and locations. Chapter 4 is utilized to describe ANTi-History’s spread to other geographic areas and contexts. Herein, the authors explain that, while ANTi-History was originally developed in Canada and applied in the context of Canadian airlines, it later was adopted and applied in different contexts across Brazil, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the USA. The authors’ account of ANTi-History’s utilization in different contexts and cultures, provides the reader a clear picture of possible diverse applications of the approach to “making history”. In the final chapter, the authors map future directions and emphasize the need for further development of ANTi-History.
In this reviewer’s opinion, this book represents the most comprehensively thought out review of ANTi-History to date. The authors’ intimate knowledge of the development of ANTi-History history is particularly clear in the first chapter in which their approach is likened to that of applying the ANTi-History approach to ANTi-History itself. The appropriate audience of this book is really any intellectually curious individuals who are interested in critical historiography. In particular, business and management historians will find a unique value in this book, as the ANTi-History approach is being increasingly used by researchers. The authors document the spread of this approach’s use by the rapid increase in results from searches of ANTi-History in Google Scholar year after year. As the use of ANTi-History is becoming more common in scholarly journal submissions, it is important for scholars to gain an understanding of ANTi-History as each day they are more likely to be asked to review a work using this approach. Finally, this book is appropriate for anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of ANTi-History. Researchers like me, considering using ANTi-History, might likely initially find the approach complex and in some cases confusing. However, those who read the book will find that the authors do an excellent job of navigating the reader through the complexities of ANTi-History so that the reader will walk away with a better understanding of ANTi-History. In addition, critics that read this book will likely lower their shields and see this method’s great utility.
