ABSTRACT
Historians’ accounts of the past may be different but equally valid if they conform to what is known, if they are reasonable, and if there is no contradictory evidence. Historians construct accounts by selecting and interpreting sources which are often incomplete. Accounts differ, first because they reflect the values and preoccupations of the times in which they are written. Historians in Ancient Greece and Imperial Rome were preoccupied with the idealised views of glorious conquests. Victorians were concerned with the origins of common law and parliaments. In the twentieth century, the emphasis has been on the perspectives of ‘ordinary people’ and most recently on the role of women and on non-Eurocentric history. Second, accounts vary according to the interests of the writer. History today encompasses all aspects of human activity: industry, religion, arts, literature, folk lore, great individuals, key events and groups and movements, in-depth studies and broad brush strokes. Third, history is rewritten as new evidence is discovered.
