“Good history isn’t about studying “the good bits” and ignoring the rest; nor should it be the opposite, where everything is judged by anachronistic 21st-century standards. Good history involves context and empathy; it involves a recognition of the complexity and otherness of the past, plus an effort to understand bygone mentalities.”
History is the often-haphazard record of what has happened since homo sapiens started to go about its business.You have to get that down before you start theorizing. But you mustn't forget that it is only a record, one necessarily biased. Your theory is an account of your view of whatever it is you happen to be looking at. It too is necessarily biased.
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