Alan Brinkley

What is History? What is history? As one noted historian has explained, historians have three definitions of history. First, there is what happened, which may or may not be open to investigation. Second, there is what the past left behind for historians to investigate, or what is referred to as...

Preface ^/he past, of course, can never change. But our understanding of the past changes constantly; and as a result, so does the writing of history. Shifts in historical understanding occur for many reasons. They can be the results of discoveries of new evidence or new methods of...