Theories of History

It is impossible to write history without being reminded of various ideas about it. First of all, there is historiography, which is the study of how history is recorded. Then, there are various theories about what is important in history.

The Great Man theory, the Great Person theory, the Great Woman theory, and the Durant view are some of the theories of history. According to the Great Man theory, history is written around the Great Men who dominate it: Moses, Caesar, Jesus, Washington, Lincoln, and the like. Proponents of the Great Person theory, which includes more women, often quip at the Great Man theory. The Great Woman theory is feminism's answer to the Great Man theory. It tends to focus on women like Cleopatra, Mary, Isabella, and Joan of Arc. The Durants, a husband and wife team of historians, avoided these approaches in their multi-volume history. They attempted to weave technology issues, cultural trends and other societal factors into history.

Churchill has been called the last of the "Whig Historians" - those who viewed England as being destined to lead. Hume's History of England is worth reading, as is Edward Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." Other notable historians include Tacitus for Ancient Roman history, Macaulay for English history, Tuchman for World War I history, Shelby Foote for Civil War history, and Studs Terkel for 20th Century American history. Terkel wrote excellent oral histories like "Working" and "The Good War" that are easy to read because they consist of short, recorded interviews. Walter Isaacson has written an indispensable biography of Ben Franklin.

"History is written by the victor" is a quote often attributed to Churchill, but its origins are uncertain. Perhaps the more valuable and wiser view of history comes from Santayana: "Those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it." Henry Ford's view was that "History is Bunk." This is not the recommended view, but there is some support for it: history is revised every day, often for political reasons.

Historians have on many occasions resorted to monasteries to protect history for future generations, but there are still questions about the accuracy of history, especially when there are conflicts in the historical record.