The Idea of History

For many years before his death in 1943, R. G. Collingwood, who was both a Professor of Philosophy at Oxford and a practicing historian, was engaged in what he intended as a major contribution to the philosophy of history. The Idea of History, first published in 1946, was put together from the author’s uncompleted manuscript and edited with a critical preface by Professor T. M. Knox.

A large part of the book describes how the modern idea of history has grown up from the time of Herodotus to the present day. A final section consists of a number of essays on such subjects as the nature of history, historical method, historical evidence, and progress.

Of the author and the book, Hans Kohn wrote in The New York Times: ‘The wit of his learning and the many-sidedness of his gifts as a philosopher, scholar and artist are manifest....an example of scholarship and depth presented with ease and grace.’

In The Philosophical Review, Arthur E. Murphy reported: ‘I found it a pleasure to read, a firsthand, enlightening, and intellectually stimulating treatment of a philosophically important subject....It has been a long time since I have encountered a contemporary work of which as much could properly be said....There is much to be learned from it.’