Introduction

Historians in general are not much disposed to reflect in public on the nature of their craft. They are often happiest when immersed in research, and most ill at ease when called upon to evaluate the claims of their discipline in general terms. The first aspiration is one to which nearly all historians would own: to discover what happened in the past and what it was like to live in the past. Some such objective is the prerequisite for any attempt to make use of the past, but for many historians it is an end in itself; the process of research then becomes like a detective enquiry, or a venture in resurrection. History is sometimes urgently needed to jolt us out of our complacency and passivity. Perspective, rather than prophecy, is the contribution historians can make to the rational understanding of the contemporary world.