What is History?

'Not only our most distinguished historian but also one of the most valuable contributors to historical theory' Spectator In answering the question, 'what is history?', E. H. Carr's acclaimed and influential bestseller shows that the facts of history are simply those which the historian selects for scrutiny. His fluent and hugely wide-ranging account of the nature of history and the role of the historian argues that all history is to some degree subjective, written by individuals who are above all people of their own time. 'Lively and controversial, full of wit and humour, E. H. Carr's What Is History? played a central role in the historiographical revolution in the 1960s' Richard J. Evans With an introduction by Richard J. Evans, author of the Third Reich trilogy.

Edward Hallett Carr was born in 1892. He joined the Foreign Office in 1916 and worked there in many roles until 1936 when he became Woodrow Wilson Professor of International Politics at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. After the war he became a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford and then of Trinity College, Cambridge. His major work was the 14-volume A History of Soviet Russia (published 1950-78). What Is History? is based on his Trevelyan Lectures, delivered in 1961. He died in 1982.

Edward Hallett Carr was born in 1892. He joined the Foreign Office in 1916 and worked there in many roles until 1936 when he became Woodrow Wilson Professor of International Politics at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. After the war he became a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford and then of Trinity College, Cambridge. His major work was the 14-volume A History of Soviet Russia (published 1950-78). What Is History? is based on his Trevelyan Lectures, delivered in 1961. He died in 1982.