Theory & History of Historiography

A philosophical treatise on the nature and practice of historical writing, presenting a theory that true history is an act of the spirit and is always contemporary with the interpreter's interest. The first part examines distinctions between chronicle and history, pseudo-histories, criticisms of universal history, the positivity and humanity of historical knowledge, choices of periodization, the delimitation of special histories, and the relation between natural and human history, with technical appendices on evidence and method. The second part surveys historiographical developments from antiquity through medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romantic, and positivist currents, concluding with reflections on a new historiography.