Edward Carr begins the lecture by comparing two different historians’ introduction to the Cambridge Modern History. The first, Acton, espouses a concept of “ultimate history,” while the second, Sir Clark, believed the exploration of history seemed “to be endless.” Carr instead follows an ideology that attempts to reconcile both views by explaining history as being neither centrally objective nor wholly subjective. He believes that history must be a factual study, but the facts must be qualified by bringing them to life in a sense of modernity and thought.