Abstract
Reviews a wide range of 20th-century approaches to history. While it is widely accepted that history must not promote political dogma, and that the past cannot be viewed legitimately in terms of the present, there remains a lively debate between modernist narrativists such as Michael Oakeshott and F. R. Ankersmit, and postmodernists who favor a more literary approach to history. Considered in particular are the works of Jo Tollebeek and Tom Verschaffel, who promote the idea of a pure historical interest devoid of the taint of "presentism.