The series, which traces the emergence of the Belgian nation-state from the Roman era until the start of World War I, is a classic of nationalist historiography and one of Pirenne's major works.

[1] Unlike much nationalist historiography, Pirenne's history did not trace the emergence of a "Volksgeist" (national spirit) but argued that Belgium had developed naturally as a cosmopolitan society to serve as a mediator between Latin and Germanic Europe.

Histoire de Belgique received widespread popular acclaim within Belgium, transcending political differences between Liberals and Catholics.

[4]Publication began in 1900 and ended in 1932 after being disrupted for several years during the German occupation of Belgium (1914–18) in which Pirenne had been held as a political prisoner.

[5] The series appeared in Dutch (Geschiedenis van België) and, encouraged by Pirenne's friend Karl Lamprecht, in German (Geschichte Belgiens) before World War I.