History: An Introduction to Theory and Method

This book provides an accessible introduction to a wide range of concerns that have preoccupied historians over time. Global in scope, it explores historical perspectives not only from historiography itself but from related areas such as literature, sociology, geography and anthropology which have entered into productive dialogues with history.

Clearly written and accessible, this third edition is fully revised with an updated structure and new areas of historical enquiry and themes added, including the history of emotions, video history and global pandemics. In all of this, the authors have attempted to think beyond the boundaries of the West and consider varied approaches to history. They do so by engaging with theoretical perspectives and methodologies that have provided the foundation for good historical practice. The authors analyse how historians can improve their skills by learning about the discipline of historiography, that is, how historians go about the task of exploring the past and determining where the line separating history from other disciplines, such as sociology or geography, runs.

History: An Introduction to Theory and Method 3ed is an essential resource for students of historical theory and method working at both an introductory and more advanced level.

Dr Peter Claus is an Access Fellow, Director of OxNet & CredOx at Pembroke College, Oxford. He is currently writing a book on the 'East End Underworld' in the twentieth century co-authored with John Marriott, also for Routledge. The combination of Access activities and historical research has developed an historical interest in the metropolis and a commitment to research on outreach, education theory and practice, public engagement, and the democratisation of the archive.

Professor John Marriott is Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford. His research has focused on London and Empire from the seventeenth century. Among numerous books are Beyond the Tower: A History of East London (2011). He is currently editing a major digital resource on the nineteenth-century British Empire, and completing a study of the origins of British territorial power in India.