- "Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline."
History by Field is the organized study and categorization of historical events, trends, and developments based on distinct areas such as social, cultural, political, economic, and military history.
Political History: This subfield focuses on the political aspects of history, including the different forms of government, political movements, policies and decision-making processes.
Social History: This focuses on the social aspects of history and includes the study of social structures, class systems, gender roles, and cultural norms.
Military History: This subfield focuses on war and the military aspects of history, including the study of battles, tactics, weapons and warfare technology.
Economic History: This field focuses on the economic aspects of history and includes the study of economic systems, patterns of trade, industries, and financial institutions.
Intellectual History: This subfield focuses on the ideas, intellectual movements, and figures who shaped history.
Environmental History: This is the study of the relationship between humans and the environment and includes topics such as climate change, resource exploitation, and conservation policies.
Cultural History: This field focuses on the cultural aspects of history, including the study of art, literature, music, and the values and beliefs of different cultures.
Diplomatic History: This subfield focuses on the diplomacy between different countries and international organizations.
Gender History: This study focuses on the gender roles and experiences of both men and women throughout history.
Legal History: This subfield focuses on the evolution of law and legal systems throughout history.
Environmental justice history: Study of the intersectional history of race, class, gender, and the environment.
Intellectual property history: Study of the evolution of intellectual property rights over time.
Linguistic History: Study of the evolution of languages and their impact on cultures and societies throughout history.
Labor History: Examining the role of work and labor movements throughout history.
Medical History: The study of medical practices and advancements in various historical periods.
Science and Technology History: Study of scientific and technological developments throughout history.
Ethnic and Race Relations History: Understanding the interactions between different racial and ethnic groups throughout history.
Public History: Study and interpretation of history for a wider audience through museums, heritage sites, and other public places.
Historical linguistics: The study of language development and change over time.
Art history: The study of visual art and its historical, cultural, and social contexts.
Religious history: The study of religious institutions, beliefs, and practices.
Urban history: The study of cities and how they have developed and evolved over time.
Demographic History: This field studies the changes, patterns and impact of human population on social, economic and political developments in different times and regions.
Literary history: Literary history studies the development of literature, the written works of authors, poets, and playwrights.
- "The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians have studied that topic by using particular sources, techniques, and theoretical approaches."
- "Scholars discuss historiography by topic—such as the historiography of the United Kingdom, that of WWII, the pre-Columbian Americas, early Islam, and China—and different approaches and genres, such as political history and social history."
- "Beginning in the nineteenth century, with the development of academic history, there developed a body of historiographic literature."
- "The extent to which historians are influenced by their own groups and loyalties—such as to their nation state—remains a debated question."
- "The Histories of Herodotus, the founder of historiography."
- "The Roman statesman Cato the Elder produced the first Roman historiography, the Origines, in the 2nd century BCE."
- "Sima Tan and Sima Qian in the Han Empire of China established Chinese historiography, compiling the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian)."
- "Medieval historiography included the works of chronicles in medieval Europe, Islamic histories by Muslim historians, and the Korean and Japanese historical writings based on the existing Chinese model."
- "Figures such as Voltaire, David Hume, and Edward Gibbon, who among others set the foundations for the modern discipline."
- "There has been a shift away from traditional diplomatic, economic, and political history toward newer approaches, especially social and cultural studies."
- "From 1975 to 1995 the proportion of professors of history in American universities identifying with social history increased from 31 to 41 percent."
- "The proportion of political historians decreased from 40 to 30 percent."
- "Of 5,723 faculty in the departments of history at British universities, 1,644 (29 percent) identified themselves with social history and 1,425 (25 percent) identified themselves with political history."
- "Since the 1980s there has been a special interest in the memories and commemoration of past events—the histories as remembered and presented for popular celebration."