ABSTRACT
People rarely do things for no reason at all – whether it’s chewing gum, gazing at a landscape, or writing history. They may, like Richard Cobb, sometimes claim to be acting (in his case, writing history) without any awareness of what they’re doing or why; but usually, if pressed, they can give some account of what they’re acting for. Cobb himself soon comes clean about his own motivation in doing history: ‘I am happy in it,’ he admits, ‘and that is the main thing.’ And for some – perhaps many, or even most – historians, such self-indulgence is no doubt sufficient justification for what can be seen as a labour of love. Happiness, after all, is no bad goal.
