The Idea of History
About this ebook
A large part of the book describes how the modern idea of history has grown up from the time of Herodotus to the present day. A final section consists of a number of essays on such subjects as the nature of history, historical method, historical evidence, and progress.
Of the author and the book, Hans Kohn wrote in The New York Times: 'The wit of his learning and the many-sidedness of his gifts as a philosopher, scholar and artist are manifest....an example of scholarship and depth presented with ease and grace.'
In The Philosophical Review, Arthur E. Murphy reported: 'I found it a pleasure to read, a firsthand, enlightening, and intellectually stimulating treatment of a philosophically important subject....It has been a long time since I have encountered a contemporary work of which as much could properly be said....There is much to be learned from it.'
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About the author
ROBIN GEORGE COLLINGWOOD FBA (1889-1943) was an English philosopher, historian and archaeologist. He is best known for his philosophical works, including The Principles of Art (1938) and the posthumously published The Idea of History (1946).
He was born on 22 February 1889 in Cartmel, Grange-over-Sands, in Lancashire, the son of the artist and archaeologist W. G. Collingwood; his mother was also an artist and a talented pianist. He was educated at Rugby School, and at University College, Oxford, where he gained a First in Classical Moderations (Greek and Latin) in 1910 and a congratulatory First in Greats (Ancient History and Philosophy) in 1912. He was elected a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, where he remained for some 15 years until becoming the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford.
Collingwood was also a practising historian and archaeologist, and considered a leading authority on Roman Britain, spending his term time at Oxford teaching philosophy whilst simultaneously devoting his long vacations to archaeology.
After several years of increasingly debilitating strokes, Collingwood died at Coniston, Lancashire, on 9 January 1943.
SIR THOMAS MALCOLM KNOX FRSE (1900-1980) was an Anglo-Scottish philosopher who served as Principal of St. Andrews University from 1953-1966 and Vice-president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1975-1978. Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, he obtained a first-class degree in Literae Humaniores in 1923 from Pembroke College, Oxford. In 1931 he became Bursar-Fellow and lecturer in philosophy at Jesus College, Oxford, before moving to St. Andrews University in 1936. He was widely known to philosophers for his translations and commentary of the works of Hegel and editing the works of R.G. Collingwood. Awarded an Hon. D. Litt. from the University of Glasgow, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1961. He died in Perthshire in 1980.
