In this book, J.H. Plumb investigates the way that humankind has, since the beginning of recorded time, moulded the past to give sanction to their institutions of government, their social structure and morality. The past has also been called upon to explain the nature of our destiny in order both to strengthen the objectives of society and to reconcile us to our lot. J.H. Plumb questions this sanction of the past, the force that it has on our sense of destiny and its relevance to our own times. This classic text is now reissued with a new introduction by Niall Ferguson, placing it within a contemporary context, and with a new foreword by the eminent historian Simon Schama, a former student of J.H.Plumb himself.

J.H. (Sir John) PLUMB, FBA, is sometime Emeritus Professor of Modern English History, University of Cambridge and was Master of Christ's College, Cambridge from 1978 to 1982.

NIALL FERGUSON is Professor of Political and Financial History, Jesus College, Oxford. Two of his most recently published books are Empire; The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power and The Cash Nexus; Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000.

SIMON SCHAMA , CBE, is University Professor of Art History and History, Columbia University, and is the author of many books, most recently the three volumes of A History of Britain.