ABSTRACT
When we read a text purporting to tell us about the historical past, our expectation is that the writer is offering us a ‘true account’ and not a fiction. This raises questions: is the tacit pact between reader and writer being respected in the case of the writing of history? How, and how far, is it being respected? This is my formulation of the problem I would wish to bring to your attention: the problem of representing the past as history.
