History: What & Why? is a highly accessible introductory survey of historians' views about the nature and purpose of their subject and discusses the traditional model of history as an account of the past 'as it was'.[...]
An experienced author of history and theory presents this examination of the purpose of history at a time when recent debates have rendered the question 'what is history for?' of utmost importance. Charting the development of historical studies and examining how history has been used, this study is[...]
.Why Bother With History? argues for an increasingly important role for a revitalised historical study. Examining the motivations of past historians, the author rejects the ancient aspiration to a 'history for its own sake' and argues that historians' importance lies in their own adoption of a moral[...]