E. H. Carr on Evidence and Interpretation

"The facts speak only when the historian calls on them: it is he who decides to which facts to give the floor, and in what order or context." — E. H. Carr, What Is History? (1961). Context: Carr was discussing how historians select and arrange surviving facts rather than simply receiving a complete, self-explanatory record. He could analyse the relationship between evidence and interpretation, but he could not recover facts that had left no surviving trace. Editorial: For popular history, this supports searching carefully for overlooked actors while acknowledging that archival silence cannot always be resolved.

E. H. Carr on Evidence and Interpretation

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