BOOK REVIEWS  RECENZIE © 2014 The respective Authors. Journal compilation © 2014 Institute of Philosophy SAS Organon F 21 (2) 2014: 261-279 Peter P. Icke: Frank Ankersmit’s Lost Historical Cause: A Journey from Language to Experience New York: Routledge 2012, 198 pages Although Peter Ickes book is probably the first book-length treatment of the views of Frank Ankersmit published in English, it does not offer a com- prehensive interpretation of his works. It rather attempts to explain and criti- cize one specific aspect of Ankersmits development – his route from narrativ- ism to the topic of sublime historical experience (his move or journey from language to experience). However, even this evolution is presented from a very specific perspective. The result is a strange book. On the one hand, I must ad- mit that it occasionally contains compelling analyses, interesting points and criticisms. Therefore, the reader will not read this work in vain if she is inter- ested in perplexing issues discussed in contemporary philosophy of history. On the other hand, the main argument of the book is, to put it mildly, unbeliev- able. During more critical moments I would even say it is bizarre. But let me try to avoid a strong rhetoric – by the way, a notable feature of Ickes writing – and make my point in a more constructive manner. After a few introductory and selective remarks about Ankersmit and Ickes book I focus on the main ar- gument provided by Icke. I try to show that his so-called secondary explanation of Ankersmits route is misguided and incoherent with what Icke himself says in some other places of the book. Moreover, his primary explanation is shallow and not illuminating at all. Frank Ankersmit is a Dutch theorist of history, one of the most original and prolific authors in this discipline. He is usually associated with the so- called narrativism or narrativist philosophy of history defending a constructivist or antirealist account of history (the discipline, not the past). Narrativism op- poses the view that historical works provide straightforward depictions of past events: it rather underlines that they are complicated constructions determined by various factors. Some narrativists emphasize the role of linguistic or concep- tual tools, others point to the inescapability of literary dimension, narrative structure, ideological influence or, in general, a historians point of view. Ank- ersmit presented his narrativist claims in many books and papers. His main points could be found in his Narrative Logic (1983), but similar views are de- veloped also in his later works History and Tropology (1994), Historical Repre-