History, or accepted facts about the past, used to be considered a natural science of "how it really was" , thus a historical fact was equal to the fact of a natural science. However, scientific facts are independent of the scientist and modern historians have discarded Ranke's1 view. Some historical facts have a similar nature to that of scientific facts. The year in which Brazil was discovered or the name of Soviet Communist leader in 1940 can be considered independent of the historian. However, history is more than just these simple facts; it includes "the interpretation of these facts, the processing of them into a narrative with causes and effects" . This interpretation can be as valid for recounting the past, as it is valid for telling us about the writer and the period in which it was written.
<Tab/>"Study the historian before you begin to study the facts" . …
