ChiTownScion
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LizzieMaine wrote: "Basic facts are one thing. It's how the facts are interpreted where propaganda comes into play, and there's no author of whatever point of view who doesn't indulge in it. A history book without propaganda is an almanac."
Absolutely! Being a historian by training, the basic rule is to answer the questions of who?, what?, when?, where?, why?, how?, and so what? The most important of these is So What?. That is where you earn your bread and butter. Its the author's analysis of factual data and their interpretation of Why Is This Important that makes a history interesting and useful. Just because the author has a known bias doesn't mean that what they wrote is useless. Just look at Procopius and his Secret History...
And this is why the American Civil War is the most popular topic in the Library of Congress. The Whys, Hows, and So Whats were debated before the first shot was fired on Fort Sumter, and they are debated to this day. The analyses run from the sublime to the ridiculous, but, so be it. Two individuals can read exactly the same books, articles, diaries, and letters, and draw opposite conclusions. And that's why it's such a rich field.