The first lesson in human history is modesty – any moment, a comet may come too close to Earth and get our globe all topsy-turvy or choke its living with fumes or heat – knowing that possibility, we retort to the cosmos in the words of Pascal. Pascal said, "When the universe has crushed him man will still be nobler than what kills him, because he knows that he is dying, and of its victory, the universe knows nothing".

    To begin with, do we know about what happened in the past, or is history a fable that not all parties agree upon? People believe most of history is guessing, and the rest is prejudice. Of one thing, we are sure history is not science.

    Historiography, the study of the writing of history and written histories, can be an industry: an industry by searching out the facts, an art: art by establishing a meaningful order in the chaos of materials and a philosophy: philosophy by seeking....