過去の探求は私たち自身を見つめ直すきっかけを与え、未来の新たな可能性をも切り拓いてくれます。歴史調査で出てくるさまざまな疑問に対する答えは、どのようにして探し当てていくのでしょうか。新しい歴史学の成果を十二分にふまえ、古代から現代まで豊富な事例を引きながら、歴史とは何か、どのように探求するものかを検討していきます。歴史学者の研究活動例を通して、因果関係や解釈、時代区分などのコンセプトも紹介する、新時代の史学入門です。
   

• Discusses theory of history in a general way rather than for a specific period, should appeal to all readers and students of history
• Explains difficult theoretical concepts by means of concrete examples of historians' work
• Stimulating and accessible

 
There are many stories we can tell about the past, and we are not, perhaps, as free as we might imagine in our choice of which stories to tell, or where those stories end. John Arnold's Very Short Introduction is a stimulating essay about how we study and understand history. The book begins by inviting us to think about various questions provoked by our investigation of history, and explores the ways these questions have been answered in the past. Concepts such as causation, interpretation, and periodization, are introduced by means of concrete examples of how historians work, giving the reader a sense of the excitement of discovering not only the past, but also ourselves.