Q: What is history?

TMT: That’s the most basic question of all. Most folks think of history as just facts, names, and dates that don’t connect to their lives. They don’t see it as a story — an evolving story that has shaped the circumstances of their lives. To appreciate this, we need to distinguish between the past (which is finished and gone forever) and the story society constructs for itself about the past. That’s what history is. 

Q: Are you suggesting that the past does not actually exist?

TMT: Yes. The past does not exist. There is no single objective past. What exists is the story of the past. And historians tell that story. We decide which characters are going to be on stage, who will be the heroes and who will be the villains. In addition, we interpret historical events and provide context.

Q: How do you go about this?

TMT: Our interpretations of the past are based on the evidence that has been left behind. There is often competing evidence that needs sorting out. There is no room here for political agendas and ideologies. No history as propaganda.

The historian must have a rich creative imagination in order to identify and piece together fragments of evidence into a coherent and compelling account of the past.

I come from a very creative family. Although I am the only one who is not an “artist” as the term is generally applied, I have many opportunities to think creatively reconstructing the past based on my reading of the evidence. Think of how a detective must approach a complex crime investigation.

Q: Are you saying that that the historian must be part artist and part detective?  

TMT: Yes. How can a detective succeed without a creative imagination?

Family legend has it that my great grandfather was chief of detectives in Buffalo, New York, in the rough and rowdy late 19th century. I may have inherited his DNA. Who knows?  But I do think like a detective. And every scrap of evidence must be carefully examined.

Getting it right is a huge responsibility. In Ireland, for example, people have died in recent years over disagreements about events in the 17th century.  And look what happened when Adolf Hitler convinced the German people to accept and act upon his interpretation of the story of the Jewish people.  

Q: Does this apply even to the ancient battles of the Egyptians?

TMT: Yes. The historian must continue to ask the basic questions: Did the battles actually take place? Were there sufficient and trustworthy witnesses? And we need to go even further and re-examine why the battles took place? What were the underlying causes? And we must always be on the lookout for new evidence.

Q: Even who won the battle?

TMT: Even who won, yes. Historians reassess past interpretations and look hard at what has been handed down.  

Q: So history is continually being rewritten?

TMT: Yes. New evidence comes to light. And what we expect from history changes over time: points of emphasis shift and societies evolve.  Questions asked in the 1940s are not the questions being asked today. As a field of study, history is remarkably dynamic. The one thing it is not is a collection of facts, names, and dates.