Mehl describes the rise of modern historical scholarship in the context of the nation state in nineteenth-century Japan. She focuses on the Historiographical Institute at the University of Tokyo, a research institute which was originally a government office. It was established to compile an official national history to legitimize the new imperial government, which replaced shogunal rule in 1868. Particular attention is given to the relationship between history and political ideology, German influence and the importance of history for national identity.