Historians

At its most simple, the role of the historian is to read records like this, report on what he or she finds there, and thus inform the wider world about the past. This would mean simply arranging a report of events into a chronological order, and providing no further comment or discussion. We usually call such histories 'chronicles', and although they were quite common in the middle ages, they are not (with certain exceptions) the kind of history we are used to today.So what else does the historian do? What roles does he or she play? There are a variety of things, some overlapping and common to most historians, some more divided and particular to individual historians. There are some shared skills and methods that historians deploy: for example, historians treat their sources with fidelity (that is, do not pretend that the records say things that they do not; and do not deliberately ignore records that contradict the historian's argument). However, the task of the historian is more complicated than simply reporting what the records say. At the very least, the records that survive for most periods of history are both incomplete and often contradictory; the historian therefore has to try, in some fashion, to address those gaps and contradictions. That is, the historian has to act as an interpreter. The historian records the history, but it may vary from other historians depending on their interpretation. The historian is not creating history, but his/her presentation of interpretation may differ.

The 'history' produced around an event or person will vary according to the historian and his or her interpretation. There is, therefore, a difference between 'the past' (all the things that happened in previous times) and 'history' (the bits of those things presented, in various ways, by historians to a wider public). How these different 'histories' vary depends on the roles that the historian adopts. Therefore the historian cannot always be free of bias, because his/her interpretation and opinion have to be a part of the history. They are essential to complete any gaps and contradictions.

Last Question = what does good historian mean? Good the historian, whose interpretation can last, then need to be persuasive. Whether its detective, interpreter, judge or political philosopher the historian still has to create a narrative that can stand the test of time.

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