What is the point of history? Why has the study of the past been so important for so long? Why History? A History contemplates two and a half thousand years of historianship to establish how very different thinkers in diverse contexts have conceived their activities, and to illustrate the purposes that their historical investigations have served. Whether considering Herodotus, medieval religious exegesis, or twentieth-century cultural history, at the core of this work is the way that the present has been conceived to relate to the past. Alongside many changes in technique and philosophy, Donald Bloxham's book reveals striking long-term continuities in justifications for the discipline.

"On the whole, Why History? is a marvel of both clarity and erudition...the footnotes and bibliography...are treasure troves and I found myself repeatedly stopping to take note of an essay or monograph I'd not run across." - Professor Daniel Woolf, Reviews in History

"Bloxham's study is outstanding in its grasp of two and a half Millennia of historiography, and he traces his subject through time and space seemingly effortlessly ... Why History? is a remarkable contribution to the History of historical writing that transcends traditional accounts" - Konrad Hauber, German Historical Institute London Bulletin