E.H. Carr in history personal statements?

Applying for ancient and modern history at Oxford and so many of the Oxbridge personal statements I've seen discuss Carr's What is History?

I don't really want it to seem unoriginal since the book is SO overused in personal statements, especially since the courses are so competitive and I'd want to stand out, but I also don't know if the reason so many people use it (and are successful) is because it is such a seminal work.

Should I just include it or does anybody have any other historiography recommendations? I started reading Bloch's 'The Historian's Craft' but I'm not sure whether to include it or not.

You're right that it's a very influential book - it's one of those works that every historian is expected to have an opinion on. It was also quite controversial, which is good for a personal statement, because you can discuss it in a more nuanced way and link it in to wider historiography. That doesn't mean you have to write about it, though, and there are many other good works to choose from.

The personal statement at Oxbridge isn't just about demonstrating how well-read and educated you are. If you haven't read some foundational book, they aren't going to criticise you for it and mark you down. Fundamentally, the admissions process is about assessing which candidates have the potential to succeed at the university. They're testing how capable you are, not how much you've learnt already. Oxbridge are also aware that students who are really passionate and committed to the subject are more likely to excel during their degree, so personal engagement and imagination are also very important. My advice, then, is to just focus on books you actually find interesting. Discuss them critically in your personal statement. What did you gain from the book? Why was it worth reading? Did you disagree with anything, and if so, why? A book's value to your personal statement is not determined by how often it's cited or how many people have heard of it. The name isn't important, your analysis is.

Thank you for this advice! This made me realise that reading books for the sake of appearing well-read isn't going to help my personal statement - I'd do much better writing about the books I've read that actually interested me Plus I definitely would not have enough characters to add another book in there and I really want to talk about others that I'm passionate about.
Def gonna delve into some historiography in my own time though, started reading Jenkins' Re-thinking History and it's so interesting!!

Hi, I definitely agree, it will come across as so much more genuine if you focus on what you've read and found interesting. While you're delving into historiography it might be worth familiarising yourself with the various historical schools of thought, such as the Frankfurt School. Different ways of 'doing' history, such as Global History, Oral History, or Microhistory are also super interesting.

Final thing I'd say is check out what's available online. History Workshop is very well-respected, and they have a podcast and a blog that's free for anyone to access The History Workshop movement was founded by Raphael Samuel, who was associated with other renowned historians such as Eric Hobsbawm and E.P Thompson. They're all great historians to read as well. Natalie Zemon Davis is a prominent microhistorian if you're interested in different ways of approaching history

Thank you so so much, this is so useful!! I will definitely be checking this stuff out