“The name ‘philosophy of history’ was invented in the eighteenth century by Voltaire, who meant by it no more than critical or scientific history, a type of historical thinking in which the historian made up his mind for himself instead of repeating whatever stories he found in old books.”

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 this contribution. It became a canonical text, and linked the practise of philosophical thought with the job of the historian to place themselves in the minds of those men whose deeds he was placing into a context.

Four parts of the book describe how the modern idea of history has developed. Collingwood begins with the Greeks and Romans, writing of Livy, Tacitus, Herodotus and Thucydides, then progressing to the early modern period throughout Europe and focussing in turn on each of the main centres of historical thought: Italy, Germany, France and England.

A final section consists of a number of essays on such subjects as the nature of history, historical method, historical evidence, and progress, which show a great depth in study which is written in engaging and methodical prose.

‘The wit of [Collingwood’s] 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.’ Hans Kohn, New York Times

‘A pleasure to read, a first-hand, 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.’ – Arthur E. Murphy, The Philosophical Review

R. G. Collingwood (1889-1943) was a philosopher and historian, and also worked on books concerning archaeology.