Thanks to the broad panorama that the different texts contribute to trace, this book shows as a whole a realistic vision of the past and the present, which not only breaks down what has happened internally in Mexico during the last five centuries, but also offers a global and chronological context to better understand why history, rather than being something static, is the result of the complexity and evolution of societies.

"Originally published in 1980, History, for what? It has become a classic about the work of history thought from Mexico with universal scope. The approaches offered not only by historians, but also philosophers, political scientists and intellectuals of various kinds and various records enriched with their keen gaze the reader’s understanding of the fundamentals of this discipline and raised the need to critically rethink historiographical discourse until then little questioned.
With a tone that combines intellectual challenge and enjoyment, the authors dock the monolith of official history from the analysis of the relationship between discourse and political and academic power. For example, the approaches of Guillermo Bonfil Batalla on the non-existence of the stories of the Indian peoples of Mexico, until then erased by the official history; the invitation of Carlos Monsivais to, from history, strengthen and expand the collective consciousness and to resist phenomena such as corruption; the reminder of José Joaquín Blanco that defends that in the act of historian there is some rebellious material; and the reflection of Héctor Aguilar Camín.
The proposals of all the texts presented here have not lost their validity and are a reference for new generations of historians.