Bringing together writings and lectures delivered by the late E.P. Thompson over a number of years, this collection covers the key debates in history and cultural theory that occupied him throughout his career. These include his influential and sympathetic assessments of historians Raymond Williams and Herman Gutman; as well as his judgements of classic English writers such as William Morris and Mary Wollstonecraft. Also included are Thompson’s perceptive and witty contributions to current issues of debate, such as the role of poetry as a poltical act, and the historical method and imagination. The book concludes with Agenda for Radical History , his lecture on the future of history and the task of historians in years to come.