Benedetto Croce wrote this work in 1938 when the western world had succumbed to the notion that history is a creature of blind force. A reviewer at the time noted the importance of Croce's belief that the central trend in the evolution of man is the unfolding of new potentialities, and that the task of the historian is to discover and emphasize this trend - the story of liberty. The first edition in English appeared in London in 1941. This edition includes modest improvements to the translation by Folke Leander and is arranged by Claes Ryn.