History Behind The History
How historians know what happened.
A practical guide to sources, evidence, research methods, interpretation, and the responsibilities involved in writing about the past.
History is an evidence-based argument
Historical knowledge is built by asking questions, finding surviving evidence, testing its origins and limitations, comparing competing accounts, and explaining which interpretation best fits the record. This series opens that process to general readers and connects it to events throughout the Daily History AI archive.
The Series
Published guides
Guide 1The Craft of HistoryFollow the historian's research process from a focused question and archival investigation through source criticism, interpretation, writing, and review.Guide 2Sources and EvidenceLearn the difference between primary and secondary sources and how historians test authenticity, context, credibility, bias, and corroboration.Guide 3HistoriographyUnderstand historiography, why historians disagree, how schools of interpretation develop, and why accounts of the same event change over time.Guide 4Historical MethodsExplore chronological, comparative, quantitative, oral, material, visual, environmental, and digital methods used to investigate the past.Guide 5Bias, Ethics, and ResponsibilityLearn how historians address perspective, presentism, uncertainty, traumatic histories, consent, archival inequality, corrections, and public responsibility.