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Professor Elliott begins by considering the general trends in 20th-century historical writing and, in particular, the contribution of Fernand Braudel and the French Annales school. He goes on to examine recent reactions to a historiography heavily influenced by economic and structural interpretations, and looks in particular at the current vogue for the history of mentalites and the new revisionism. Both these modern trends, while they have revitalized historical writing, run the risk of atomizing and trivializing the past. In the light of this Professor Elliott goes on to consider possible ways forward for historians, and especially British historians, in the 1990s and beyond, bearing in mind particularly the closer integration of the European Community and the Columbus quincentennial of 1992. In the second half of his lecture he makes a strong plea for a sustained attempt at comparative history which will move historians away from excessively parochial concerns. Comparative history, while finding resemblances, can be particularly valuable in identifying differences, and here he considers in particular the silence of 20th century historical writing on the question of national character, which so excited 19th century historians, and looks at possible ways of approaching the question of national and regional identities and identity formation. Within this general context Professor Elliott concludes by asking what particular contribution can be made by the Oxford History School in the coming years and puts forward a proposal for the establishment in Oxford of a Centre for Atlantic Studies.
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