Is history more than (in Boswell's words) a `chronological series of
remarkable events'? Does it have a pattern? Is it fraught with
`meaning'? Can we discern its trends? What determines its course? In
short, can a substantial and coherent philosophy of history be devised
that offers answers to these questions? These issues, which have
intrigued -and bedeviled - historians for centuries, are explored in
this thoughtful book.