A major, deeply reflective work upon the nature of studying and writing history....No other author has treated the subject in the same way.

Ronald Hutton, Professor of History, University of Bristol

Achieves what I had thought increasingly impossible in this congested field: it says something fresh, stimulating, and thought provoking. It is, to my mind, a very significant contribution to current debates about the nature of history in offering an account which is simultaneously rooted in practice and engaged with theoretical debates.

Patrick Finney, Lecturer in History, University of Wales, Lampeter

Jordanova is brilliant in exposition...makes a fine case for the inescapability of the past and the absolute essentiality of studying it.

English Historical Review

An intensely gripping narrative...unquestionably belongs in all academic library collections. Adventurous public librarians, willing to lift their eyes higher than issue figures, the state of the book fund, should also have no hesitation in ordering a copy.

Library Review 'Reference Reviews'

This brilliant essay abounds with penetrating yet down-to-earth insights about the practice of academic history. One of the last half-century's most insightful, level-headed, and humane reflections on the practice of history and its cultural significance...(to be) welcomed by professional historians...also accessible to general readers and undergraduates.

History Journal (US)