The Work of History

Since the appearance of his seminal work Metahistory in 1973, Hayden White's thought has been central to the field of historical theory and hence, at least ostensibly, also to history. Despite the radical theoretical change marked by that book and White's subsequent work, the history theory debate is still largely disregarded by historians in their practices. This book seeks to remedy this situation by providing new insight into White's work and examining the ways his thinking has shifted since his initial publication.