There are many stories we can tell about the past, and we are not,perhaps, as free as we might imagine in our choice of which stories totell, or where those stories end. John Arnold's Very Short Introductionis a stimulating essay about how we study and understand history. Thebook begins by inviting us to think about various questions provoked byour investigation of history, and explores the ways these questions havebeen answered in the past. Concepts such as causation, interpretation,and periodization, are introduced by means of concrete examples of howhistorians work, giving the reader a sense of the excitement ofdiscovering not only the past, but also ourselves.