Leopold von Ranke, who was born in 1795, is considered to be one of the founders of the modern practice of writing history. This collection focuses on the relationship between history and religion together with his inaugural lecture of 1836 'On the Relation and Difference between History and Politics'.

Leopold von Ranke, who was born in 1795, is considered to be one of the founders of the modern practice of writing history. This collection of his writings, edited and introduced by Georg G. Iggers, was first published in 1973 and remains the leading collection of Ranke's writings in the English language.

Now updated with the needs of current students in mind, this edition includes previously untranslated materials by the young Ranke, focusing particularly on the relationship between history and religion together with his inaugural lecture of 1836 'On the Relation and...

'No apology can be needed for introducing to English readers the latest work of Leopold von Ranke', states the editor's preface to this English translation, first published in 1884. Ranke (1795 1886) is well known for pioneering the modern historical method which advocates empiricism, rather than a focus on the philosophy of history. Emphasising the importance of presenting history exactly as the surviving evidence, both documentary and archaeological, reveals it to have happened, Ranke asserted that different eras need to be understood in their own contexts rather than in relation to each...