Books by Herbert Butterfield

This 1924 book, written by Sir Herbert Butterfield (1900-79), is an engaging study of the interrelation between the historical novel and the study of history. It looks at the style of historical writings, their engagement with evidence, and the effects of history's fictionalization upon the reader and history itself.

This book is an extended version of the Wiles lectures given at the Queen's University, Belfast, in 1954. It illustrates the rise, scope, methods and objectives of the history of historiography. The topics selected for discussion give a general outline of the modern historical movement from the mid-eighteenth century to the contribution of Lord Acton in the late nineteenth century.