Pierre Nora in the context of "Éditions Gallimard"

The term new history, from the French term nouvelle histoire (French pronunciation: [nuvɛl istwaʁ]), was coined by Jacques Le Goff and Pierre Nora, leaders of the third generation of the Annales school, in the 1970s. The movement can be associated with cultural history, history of representations, and histoire des mentalités. The new history movement's inclusive definition of the proper matter of historical study has also given it the label total history. The movement was contrasted with the traditional ways of writing history which focused on politics and "great men". The new history rejected any insistence on composing historical narrative; an emphasis on administrative documents as basic source materials; concern with individuals' motivations and intentions as explanatory factors for historical events; and the old belief in objectivity.

The approach was rejected by Marxist historians because it downplayed what Marxists believed was the central role of class in shaping history.