History is a discrete discipline because it aims to explain bygone events, mindsets, and the course of change. Its purpose is to understand the past on its own terms, and not to apply or deduce laws or patterns. Masterful research, particularly of documentary evidence, enables historians to understand what is missing and/or what questions are implicitly raised. This is why political history is the queen of the discipline. There is truth to be discovered ‘if only we can find it’: such outcomes are more likely in history than in scientific disciplines because events and evidence are unalterable and independent of the practitioner. Evidence is to be criticized, however, leading to differing interpretations, which may be magnified by the historian’s individual style of writing. The format of presentation itself will be either narrative, the superior of chronology, or analytical, the higher form of description. The choice is normally dictated by the topic. In making the case for more use of narrative (where possible), Elton displays one of many instances where he sets his cap against social scientists and sundry postmodernists – in 1965. Aimed at professionals, it includes a section on teaching and is therefore not fluid. Still, a confident, masterful brief.