The possibility of historical knowledge -- Theories of truth -- Some common reasons for scepticism -- The meanings of texts, actions and events -- The meanings of texts -- Problems about knowing the meanings of texts -- The meaning of actions, events and practices in history -- Justifying descriptions of the past -- Justifying descriptions of single events -- Lawlike regularities -- Descriptions of social structures -- Causes of human actions -- Mental causes of human actions -- Cultural and social causes of human actions -- Conclusion -- Types of historical narrative -- Commonsense narratives -- Colligatory patterns -- Summary interpretations -- Judging historical narratives -- The credibility of historical narratives -- Fairness -- Causes and conditions in history -- The nature of causes and conditions in history -- Checking out particular causes and conditions -- Checking necessary and sufficient conditions by judging generalizations -- Historical explanations -- Genetic and contrastive explanations of individual actions -- Profound explanations -- Structural explanations

"The Logic of History: Putting postmodernism in perspective reveals the rational basis for historians' descriptions, interpretations and explanations of past events. C. Behan McCullagh defends the practice of history as more reliable than has recently been acknowledged. Historians, he argues, make their accounts of the past as fair as they can and avoid misleading their readers. He explains and discusses postmodern criticisms of history, providing students and teachers of history with a renewed validation of their practice. McCullagh takes the history debate to a new stage with bold replies to the major questions historians face today. Historical reasoning is explained in plain and simple terms, accessible to all with an interest in history."--Jacket