「歷史的性質」原名是La Nature de l'histoire ，由法國學者André Beaufre所撰寫，在歐洲是一本有名的歷史著作，曾被翻譯成十四國文字。而中文版則透過深圳文匯出版社買取版權並翻譯。本書透過古今中外各重大歷史事件之轉變，闡述歷史對人類的影響，以及人類應如何看待歷史。

「以銅為鏡，可以正衣冠；以古為鏡，可以知興替；以人為鏡，可以明得失。」歷史是一面鏡子，封面以此為設計概念，用許多零散的金塊組成一面銅鏡，就如書中以許多歷史事例說理一樣，讓歷史成為一面鏡子，鑑古知今。

The Nature of History (La Nature de l’histoire) is a world-renowned history book written by French scholar André Beaufre. The book has been translated into 14 languages and its Chinese version is translated and issued by Shenzhen Wenhui press. By analysing the far-reaching consequence of historical events at all time in all lands, the work aims to illuminate the influence of history on human beings and explore people’s proper attitude to history. “With copper as a mirror, you can dress upright; with ancient mirrors, you can see the rise and fall; with human mirrors, you can gain and lose.” The cover of the book is based on the idea: a copper mirror made up by golden pieces parallels to the fact that history is constituted by momentous historical events. History is like mirror, through which people can apply the ancient knowledge to the current world.