Abstract
Discusses major premises of the philosophy of history of Robin George Collingwood (1889-1943), especially from 1926-36. Collingwood was neither contradictory nor dialectical, though he did shift his position at times. He maintained that direct knowledge of the past is not possible. On the basis of surviving remnants a theory of a historical past can be reconstructed, the truth of which must be tested by its coherence with logic and the known evidence. Historical knowledge remains provisional, subject to new questions, interpretations, and evidence.