约翰·巴思的《烟草经纪人》与通常意义上的历史小说不同 ,巴思在刻意书写 17世纪美国马里兰州一段鲜为人知的历史时 ,在叙述中掺入虚构的人物和情节 ,从而引入历史陈述与小说、真实与虚构之冲突这一主题。作者把历史陈述置于后设性叙述话语之中 ,展示小说与历史的姻缘和分野 ,并通过对终极历史观的解构 ,赋予历史陈述以深邃的哲学内涵。因此 ,《烟草经纪人》不仅是一部关于小说的小说 ,还是一部关于历史学的小说。巴思对史学一般性问题的探讨以及对历史真实性的质询具有特别重要的意义 ,它引发了对人类历史发展模式的深度思考 John Bath’s “tobacco broker” is different from the usual historical novels. When he deliberately wrote a little-known history of Maryland in the 17th century, Bath incorporates fictional characters and circumstances into his narration to introduce Historical statements and novels, the conflict between reality and fiction. The author places the historical statement in the posthumous narrative discourse, displays the marriage and the division of the novel with the history, and gives the profound philosophical connotation of the historical statement through the deconstruction of the ultimate historical view. Therefore, “tobacco broker” is not only a novel about novels, but also a novel about history. The exploration of the general problems of history and the questioning of the authenticity of history are of particular importance to Bath. It leads to a deep reflection on the mode of human history development