Examines how the idea of history has evolved from the time of Herodotus to the twentieth century, and offers the author's own view of what history is. This edition provides an introduction which discusses how scholars have responded to his classic over the years.

`'This is a big book, and a difficult one, but for anybody who takes history seriously, it is essential.'' The Observer Review `'Welcome reprint of the classic lectures delivered by an Oxford philosopher-historian 60 years ago. A most influential book.'' Good Book Guide

The late R. G. Collingwood was Wayflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy in the University of Oxford from 1935 to 1941. Four of his books are available in paperback from Oxford University Press: The Principles of Art, The Idea of History, The Idea of Nature, and An Autobiography. In 1989 the Press published his Essays in Political Philosophy, and in 1992 a revised edition of the last work published in his lifetime, The New Leviathan, accompanied by new material from his manuscripts; both of these books are edited by David Boucher. Jan van der Dussen is Professor of History and Philosophy in the department of Humanities at the Open University of the Netherlands. His previous publications include History as a Science: The Philosophy of R. G. Collingwood (Martinus Hijhoff, 1981).