What Is History?

infobox Book |
name = What is History?
translator =


author = E. H. Carr
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Historiography lectures
release_date = 1961
publisher = University of Cambridge & Penguin Books
isbn =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"What is History?" is a 1961 non-fiction book by historian Edward Hallett Carr on historiography. 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 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 historiography.

Nevertheless, some of Carr's ideas are contentious, particularly his relativism and his rejection of contingency as an important factor in historical analysis. His work provoked a number of responses, most notably Geoffrey Elton's classic work, "The Practice of History".

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

External links

* [http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Whatishistory/carr1.html Reappraisal by Professor Alun Munslow]