This volume provides an accessible introduction to the history of humanities by leading scholars in the field.

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2023 What are the humanities? As the cluster of disciplines historically grouped together as “humanities” has grown and diversified to include media studies and digital studies alongside philosophy, art history and musicology to name a few, the need to clearly define the field is pertinent. Herman Paul leads a stellar line-up of esteemed and early-career scholars to provide an overview of the themes, questions and methods that are central to current research on the history of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century humanities. This exciting addition to the successful Writing History series will draw from a wide range of case-studies from diverse fields, as classical philology, art history, and Biblical studies, to provide a state-of-the-art overview of the field. In doing so, this ground-breaking book challenges the rigid distinctions between disciplines and show the variety of prisms through which historians of the humanities study the past.

"Globally, the Humanities are in trouble and only a thorough grasp of their history can give us the knowledge we need to deal with the situation. That’s why this timely book is, beyond all hype, so exciting and rewarding. Herman Paul’s exhilarating introduction establishes the terms for a comprehensive historical understanding of the humanities and the essays that he has chosen illuminate not just the past but the present too. Essential reading." - Simon During, Professor of English, University of Melbourne, Australia

"The history of the humanities is a new field but a remarkably dynamic one. Herman Paul has assembled an outstanding international team to produce a book that both provides an accessible introduction to the field and showcases some of the most innovative work it is producing." - Stuart Jones, Professor of Intellectual History, University of Manchester, UK

"This collection serves as a prescriptive ... guide to the current status of the history of humanities ... [T]his is a timely addition to modern research on a topic immense significance for many areas of study." - CHOICE