What is history – a question historians have been asking themselves time and again. Does "history" as an academic discipline, as it has evolved in the West over the centuries, represent a specific mode of historical thinking that can bedefined in contrast to other forms of historical consciousness?

In this volume, Peter Burke, a prominent "Western" historian, offers ten hypotheses that attempt to constitute specifically "Western Historical Thinking." Scholars from Asia and Africa comment on his position in the light of their own ideas of the sense and meaning of historical thinking. The volume is rounded off by Peter Burke's comments on the questions and issues raised by the authors and his suggestions for the way forward towards a common ground for intercultural communication.

Jörn Rüsen was Professor of Modern History at Universities Bochum and Bielefeld for many years. From 1994 to 1997 he was Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) at Bielefeld. Since 1997 he has been President of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities Essen (Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut). He specialises in theory and methodology of historical sciences, the history of historiography, intercultural aspects of historical thinking, theory of historical learning, and the history of human rights.

“... a remarkably stimulating production, full of insights and observations that cannot fail to inform and illuminate. Although it would be an ideal text for the graduate seminar, it will prove valuable to anyone interested in the uses of the past.”  ·  Clio

“... [an] engaging, sophisticated and scrupulous study ... a strongly recommended, introspective and thoughtful compilation which would enhance any personal or academic philosophy or history collection.”  · Midwest Book Review

"... a strongly recommended, introspective and thoughtful compilation which would enhance any personal or academic Philosophy or History collection."  · The Bookwatch