''What Is History?'' is a 1961 non-fiction book by historian E. H. Carr on

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

. It discusses history, facts, the bias of historians, science, morality, individuals and society, and moral judgements in history. The book originated in a series of lectures given by Carr in 1961 at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. The lectures were intended as a broad introduction into the subject of the theory of history and their accessibility has resulted in ''What is History?'' becoming one of the key texts in the field of

. Some of Carr's ideas are contentious, particularly his

relativism Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to absolute objectivity within a particular domain and assert that valuations in that domain are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assess ...

and his rejection of contingency as an important factor in historical analysis. His work provoked a number of responses, most notably

Geoffrey Elton Sir Geoffrey Rudolph Elton (born Gottfried Rudolf Otto Ehrenberg; 17 August 1921 – 4 December 1994) was a German-born British political and constitutional historian, specialising in the Tudor period. He taught at Clare College, Cambridge, and ...

's '' The Practice of History''. Carr was in the process of revising ''What is History?'' for a second edition at the time of his death.

Structure

The book begins with Chapter 1 ''The Historian and His Facts'', this is followed by chapters on the (2) ''Society and the Individual'', (3) ''History, Science and Morality'', (4) ''Causation in History'' and (5) ''History as Progress'' before finishing with a chapter (6) on ''The Widening Horizon''. The 2001 edition includes a new introduction by R.J. Evans, and material from the 2nd edition including ''An Introductory note'' from R.W. Davies, a ''Preface to Second Edition'' by Carr himself, as well 'notes ''From E.H. Carr's Files'' also by Davies.

Reception

Carr's views about the nature of historical work in ''What Is History?'' were controversial. In his 1967 book '' The Practice of History'',

criticized Carr for his "whimsical" distinction between the "historical facts" and the "facts of the past", saying that it reflected "an extraordinarily arrogant attitude both to the past and to the place of the historian studying it". Elton praised Carr for rejecting the role of "accidents" in history, but said Carr's philosophy of history was an attempt to provide a secular version of the medieval view of history as the working of God's master plan with "Progress" playing the part of God. British historian

Hugh Trevor-Roper Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, (15 January 1914 – 26 January 2003) was an English historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History (Oxford), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Trevor-Rope ...

said Carr's dismissal of the "might-have-beens of history" reflected a fundamental lack of interest in examining historical causation. Trevor-Roper said examining possible alternative outcomes of history is not a "parlour-game", but is an essential part of historians' work.Trevor-Roper, p. 73 Trevor-Roper said historians could properly understand the period under study only by looking at all possible outcomes and all sides; historians who adopted Carr's perspective of only seeking to understand the winners of history and treating the outcome of a particular set of events as the only possible outcomes, were "bad historians". In a review in 1963 in ''Historische Zeitschrift'',

Andreas Hillgruber Andreas Fritz Hillgruber (18 January 1925 – 8 May 1989) was a Conservatism, conservative German historian who was influential as a military and diplomatic historian who played a leading role in the ''Historikerstreit'' of the 1980s. In his contr ...

wrote favourably of Carr's ''geistvoll-ironischer'' (ironically spirited) criticism of conservative, liberal and positivist historians. British philosopher W. H. Walsh said in a 1963 review that it is not a "fact of history" that he had toast for breakfast that day. Walsh said Carr was correct that historians did not stand above history, and were instead products of their own places and times, which in turn decided what "facts of the past" they determined into "facts of history". British historian Richard J. Evans said ''What Is History?'' caused a revolution in British historiography in the 1960s. Australian historian

Keith Windschuttle Keith Windschuttle (1942 – 8 April 2025) was an Australian historian. He was appointed to the board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 2006 to 2011. He was editor of '' Quadrant'' from 2007 to 2015 when he became chair of the bo ...

, a critic of Carr, said ''What Is History?'' is one of the most influential books written about historiography, and that very few historians working in the English language since the 1960s had not read it.

Editions

The first edition was published in 1961, with reprints in 1961, 1962 (twice), 1969, 1972, 1977 and 1982. In 1986 a posthumous second edition was published with a Preface by

Bob Davies Robert Edris Davies (January 15, 1920 – April 22, 1990) was an American professional basketball player. Alongside Bobby Wanzer he formed one of the best backcourt duos in the National Basketball Association's early years. Davies and Wanzer le ...

. This was reprinted in 2001 with a substantial critical introduction by Richard J. Evans.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Reappraisal by Professor Alun Munslow
1961 non-fiction books Books about historiography