[1] The journal describes its position as "at the point where rigorous historical scholarship and active political engagement converge".

[2] In 1979, the journal advertised that it "publishes the best marxist and non-marxist radical scholarship in jargon-free English".

[3] Articles in the journal cover the relationships that "issues of gender, race, sexuality, imperialism, and class" have with histories.

[2] In 1999, the editors described "the journal's recent move toward a more overtly political discussion of historical topics".

[4] The New Criterion describes RHR as "a publication that plainly states it 'rejects conventional notions of scholarly neutrality and 'objectivity,' and approaches history from an engaged, critical, political stance.