"A follow-up to the bestselling The Pursuit of History, this Reader brings together the reflections of a number of major historians on the nature and purpose of their craft. They illuminate the different governing assumptions - political, social, personal - that have sustained these leading practitioners in their studies, and show how different influences and methodologies have impacted on them. In so doing, the book not only gives an insight into the great variety of aspirations and convictions that animate History as a discipline, but also brings into focus the key historiographic trends of the English-speaking world since World War II." from publisher's website.