Historian

===20th century===
The term [[Whig history]] was coined by [[Herbert Butterfield]] in his short book ''The Whig Interpretation of History'' in 1931, (a reference to the British [[Whig (British political party)|Whig]]s, advocates of the power of [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]]) to refer to the approach to historiography that presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater [[liberty]] and [[wikt:enlightenment|enlightenment]], culminating in modern forms of [[liberal democracy]] and [[constitutional monarchy]]. In general, Whig historians emphasized the rise of [[constitutional government]], [[personal freedom]]s, and [[scientific progress]]. The term has been also applied widely in historical disciplines outside of [[British history]] (the [[history of science]], for example) to criticize any [[Teleology|teleological]] (or goal-directed), hero-based, and [[Transhistoricity|transhistorical]] narrative.<ref>Ernst Mayr, "When Is Historiography Whiggish?" ''Journal of the History of Ideas,'' April 1990, Vol. 51 Issue 2, pp 301–309 [https://www.jstor.org/pss/2709517 in JSTOR]</ref> Butterfield's antidote to Whig history was "...to evoke a certain sensibility towards the past, the sensibility which studies the past 'for the sake of the past', which delights in the concrete and the complex, which 'goes out to meet the past', which searches for 'unlikenesses between past and present'."<ref>Adrian Wilson and T. G. Ashplant, "Whig History and Present-Centred History", ''The Historical Journal'', 31 (1988): 1–16, at p. 10.</ref> Butterfield's formulation received much attention, and the kind of historical writing he argued against in generalised terms is no longer academically respectable.<ref>''G. M. Trevelyan'' (1992), p. 208.</ref>

[[File:Marc Bloch.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The 20th century saw the creation of a huge variety of historiographical approaches. [[Marc Bloch]]'s focus on social history rather than traditional political history was of tremendous influence.]]
The French [[Annales School]] radically changed the focus of historical research in France during the 20th century by stressing long-term social history, rather than political or diplomatic themes. The school emphasized the use of quantification and the paying of special attention to geography.<ref>Lucien Febvre, ''La Terre et l'évolution humaine'' (1922), translated as ''A Geographical Introduction to History'' (London, 1932).</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.editions.ehess.fr/revues/annales-histoire-sciences-sociales/numeros-parus/|title=Les Éditions de l'EHESS: Annales. Histoire, Sciences sociales|website=www.editions.ehess.fr}}</ref> An eminent member of this school, [[Georges Duby]], described his approach to history as one that <blockquote>relegated the sensational to the sidelines and was reluctant to give a simple accounting of events, but strived on the contrary to pose and solve problems and, neglecting surface disturbances, to observe the long and medium-term evolution of economy, society, and civilisation.</blockquote>

[[Marxist historiography]] developed as a school of historiography influenced by the chief tenets of [[Marxism]], including the centrality of [[social class]] and [[economic]] constraints in determining historical outcomes. [[Friedrich Engels]] wrote ''[[The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844]]'', which was salient in creating the [[socialist]] impetus in British politics from then on, e.g. the [[Fabian Society]]. [[R. H. Tawney]]'s ''The Agrarian Problem in the Sixteenth Century'' (1912)<ref>[[William Rose Benét]] (1988) p.&nbsp;961</ref> and ''Religion and the Rise of Capitalism'' (1926), reflected his ethical concerns and preoccupations in [[economic history]]. A [[Communist Party Historians Group|circle of historians]] inside the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]] (CPGB) formed in 1946 and became a highly influential cluster of British [[Marxist historiography|Marxist historians]], who contributed to [[history from below]] and class structure in early capitalist society. Members included [[Christopher Hill (historian)|Christopher Hill]], [[Eric Hobsbawm]] and [[E. P. Thompson]].

[[World history (field)|World history]], as a distinct field of historical study, emerged as an independent academic field in the 1980s. It focused on the examination of [[history]] from a global perspective and looked for common [[pattern]]s that emerged across all cultures. [[Arnold J. Toynbee]]'s ten-volume ''A Study of History'', written between 1933 and 1954, was an important influence on this developing field. He took a comparative topical approach to independent civilizations and demonstrated that they displayed striking parallels in their origin, growth, and decay.<ref>William H. McNeill, ''Arnold J. Toynbee a Life'' (1989)</ref> [[William Hardy McNeill|William H. McNeill]] wrote ''The Rise of the West'' (1965) to improve upon Toynbee by showing how the separate civilizations of Eurasia interacted from the very beginning of their history, borrowing critical skills from one another, and thus precipitating still further change as adjustment between traditional old and borrowed new knowledge and practice became necessary.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = McNeill | first1 = William H. | year = 1995 | title = The Changing Shape of World History | journal = History and Theory | volume = 34 | issue = 2| pages = 8–26 | doi=10.2307/2505432| jstor = 2505432 }}</ref>

====Historical editing====
A new advanced specialty opened in the late 20th century: historical editing. [[Edmund Morgan (historian)|Edmund Morgan]] reports on its emergence in the United States:<ref>Edmund S. Morgan, "John Adams and the Puritan Tradition." ''New England Quarterly'' 34#4 (1961): 518–529 at p. 519.</ref><blockquote>It required, to begin with, large sums of money. But money has proved easier to recruit than talent. Historians who undertake these large editorial projects must leave the main channel of academic life. They do not teach; they do not write their own books; they do not enjoy long vacations for rumination, reflection, and research on whatever topic interests them at the moment. Instead they must live in unremitting daily pursuit of an individual whose company, whatever his genius, may ultimately begin to pall. Anyone who has edited historical manuscripts knows that it requires as much physical and intellectual labor to prepare a text for publication as it does to write a book of one's own. Indeed, the new editorial projects are far too large for one man. The editor-in-chief, having decided to forego a regular academic career, must entice  other scholars to help him; and with the present [high] demand for college teachers, this is no easy task. </blockquote>