This introduction to contemporary historical theory and practice shows how issues of identity have shaped how we write history. Stefan Berger charts how a new self-reflexivity about what is involved in the process of writing history entered the historical profession and the part that historians have played in debates about the past and its meaningfulness for the present. He introduces key trends in the theory of history such as postmodernism, poststructuralism, constructivism, narrativism and the linguistic turn and reveals, in turn, the ways in which they have transformed how historians have written history over the last four decades. The book ranges widely from more traditional forms of history writing, such as political, social, economic, labour and cultural history, to the emergence of more recent fields, including gender history, historical anthropology, the history of memory, visual history, the history of material culture, and comparative, transnational and global history.

Stefan Berger is a leading figure in the history of historiography and historical theory with more than thirty years' experience teaching courses at the Universities of Cardiff, Glamorgan, Manchester and Bochum. His publications include The Past as History: National Identity and Historical Consciousness in Modern Europe (2015), Writing the Nation: A Global Perspective (2007) and The Search for Normality. National Identity and Historical Consciousness in Germany since 1800 (2003). He serves as series editor for the Bloomsbury Academic book series 'Writing History: Theory and Practice'.