The Scope of History explains how the Alfonsine histories became well-fashioned and independent works of literature, having begun as simple compilations of preexisting texts. The author seeks to point out that the editors of the Alfonsine histories amplify and alter their sources, rejoin them with artistic skill, and generally arrange the elements into an ordered system. In so doing, Fraker explains, the final text speaks uniquely, giving voice to themes alien to the original texts.

Fraker also aims to illustrate the scope of the editorial labor that sets Alfonso's General estoria and his Estoria de Espanna apart from their contemporary histories.

The Scope of History is a collection of eight essays written by Charles F. Fraker between 1974 and 1991. To these works he has added four new pieces: a general introduction and three prefaces to accompany the essays as he has grouped them. This collection reflects the durable nature of Fraker's work, which has been characterized as vitally important to the field of Castilian history, focusing on the historiography of Alfonso X of Castile.