Controversial issues are often regarded as abundant in history education. Most topicscan be regarded as controversial in one way or another. The purpose of this article is toanalyse the way history teachers in Swedish lower secondary schools relate controversialissues to a particular view of the nature of the subject of history. By analysing statementsfrom six teacher interviews which centred on the risks and opportunities associated withteaching about controversial issues, the authors were able to see a clear relation betweenviews on controversial issues and views on the nature of history as such. The teachers’reactions to the introduction of controversial issues, whether introduced by the teacheror by the students, was in many cases directly related to a specific view of the subject itselfand its epistemological nature.