So far histories of historiography have concentrated almost exclusively on the West. This is the first book to offer a history of modern historiography from a global perspective.

Tracing the transformation of historical writings over the past two and half centuries, the book portrays the transformation of historical writings under the affect of professionalization, which served as a model not only for Western but also for much of non-Western historical studies. At the same time it critically examines the reactions in post-modern and post-colonial thought to established conceptions of scientific historiography.

A main theme of the book is how historians in the non-Western world not only adopted or adapted Western ideas, but also explored different approaches rooted in their own cultures.

格奥尔格•伊格尔斯（Georg G. Iggers），美国纽约州立大学布法罗校区荣退教授，欧洲思想史、史学史和史学理论领域的著名德裔学者。曾著《德国的历史观念：从赫尔德至今的历史思想传统》、《欧洲史学新方向》、《二十世纪的历史学：从科学的客观性到后现代的挑战》等书，并被翻译成包括中文在内的十多种文字。

王晴佳，美国新泽西州罗文大学历史系教授，北京大学长江学者，国际史学史、史学理论委员会理事与秘书长。长于比较史学史、史学理论和比较文化史，主要著作包括《西方的历史观念：从古希腊到现代》、《台湾史学五十年：传承、方法、趋向》、Inventing China through History: the May Fourth Approach to Historiography等。

苏普里娅•穆赫吉（Supriya Mukherjee），现任教于加拿大马尼托巴大学（University of Manitoba），对印度近现代史和当代社会有深入的观察和研究。

杨豫，南京大学历史系教授、博士生导师。