The late R. G. Collingwood was Wayflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy in the University of Oxford from 1935 to 1941. Four of his books are available in paperback from Oxford University Press: The Principles of Art, The Idea of History, The Idea of Nature, and An Autobiography. In 1989 the Press published his Essays in Political Philosophy, and in 1992 a revised edition of the last work published in his lifetime, The New Leviathan, accompanied by new material from his manuscripts; both of these books are edited by David Boucher. Jan van der Dussen is Professor of History and Philosophy in the department of Humanities at the Open University of the Netherlands. His previous publications include History as a Science: The Philosophy of R. G. Collingwood (Martinus Hijhoff, 1981).

'This is a big book, and a difficult one, but for anybody who takes history seriously, it is essential.'

• THE IDEA OF HISTORY ; LECTURES ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY (1926) ; OUTLINES OF A PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY (1928)