"A smart, pithy, and frankly essential statement of the origins, aims, and methods of historical study. E.H. Carr's What is History—for the twenty-first century."—Jill Lepore, Harvard University and author of These Truths: A History of the United States "What is history now, why does it matter now, who are the people writing it, and who are they writing for? In this bracing and timely book, Lynn Hunt not only shows why these questions matter, but also answers them brilliantly and provocatively."—Sir David Cannadine, President of the British Academy "Confronted by the thickening miasma of lies seeping from the White House and Fox News, what's a historian to do? In fact, given the present circumstances, does it matter that we do anything at all? According to Lynn Hunt, it does. As the Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA, Hunt has, over a long and brilliant career, earned the right to make that claim."—Los Angeles Review of Books "A timely reconsideration of the value of History... A brief and lively call to arms"—Amy Murrell Taylor, Times Literary Supplement