History is both the study and writing of facts and past events whatever their variety and complexities. Metahistory mainly brings together two types of historical sciences: historiography and the study of the meaning of history. Metahistory is a branch of history that studies the historian and his work.
History studies the past. Metahistory studies history. Meta is taken here in the sense of “everything”. Metahistory is then the history of humanity in its major movements and, for example, the history of its appearance (in mythology in particular). It is the study of the entire past.
History relates historical facts at a given time. Metahistory relates the forces, transcending history, which govern the evolution of humanity.
History is the temporal chronology of events. Metahistory is the description of the atemporal causes of facts.
History focuses on visible effects. Metahistory about invisible causes.
The winner rewrites history. The metahistorian writes about the winner and the loser.
History is historical figures. The metahistory is mythological characters.
The history is linear and chronological, each event is different. Metahistory is cyclical and socio-psychological/philosophical/occult, each event is a repetition of the same forces.
Each history is a different historical episode. Each subject of study of meta-history hardly undergoes the transformations of time and is not particularly subservient to actors or to an era.
History generally has only one version, it is consensual and taught everywhere. Metahistory is not taught, it is subject to controversy and multiple interpretations.