The new edition of G. R. Elton's classic work is a wide-ranging, succinct and practical introduction for all students and general readers of history. It makes a major contribution to the question "what is history?".

G. R. Elton was Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University from 1983 to 1988. Among his numerous works are The Tudor Revolution in Government (1953), England under the Tudors (1955), Reform and Renewal (1973), The Parliament of England 1559–1581 and The English (Blackwell, 1992), and he was founding editor of the Blackwell History of the Modern British Isles. Professor Elton was President of the Royal Historical Society from 1972 until 1976 and honorary Vice-President from 1976 until his death in 1994.

Richard J. Evans is Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge. His many publications include Death in Hamburg (1987), Rituals ofRetribution (1996), In Defence of History (1997, reissued with a new Afterword 2001), and Tales from the GermanUnderworld (1998).