From the famous controversy between E H Carr and Geoffrey Elton, sparked by Carr's 'What is History?' half a century ago, to the more recent 'postmodernism' debate, historians have been sharply divided over such key issues in historiography as the relative importance of empirical evidence, theories, moral values, and narrative subjectivity. Explores these issues through both the major writings of the key protagonists in these debates, and case studies of three of the most celebrated 'wars of interpretation' in European history: the English Civil War, the French Revolution, and the rise of Nazism in Germany.

At the completion of the course, students will have a thorough understanding of why historians of different theoretical 'schools' continue to interpret important historical events in very different ways and be therefore better equipped to handle similar differences and controversies which they will inevitably confront in their Honours work and beyond.