Today it dawned on me what history is. I was looking through msn histories with some of my friends. I always thought that history is to look at past mistakes, so we do not make the same one again. I guess thats true, but now I feel more importantly is the interpretation of the subject at that point in time. What did he/she think? How did he/she feel? And from there, find the logical flow to his/her decision. Most people decide through logic, no doubt with a mix of feelings and biasedness, but logic nonetheless. If you can understand what he/she felt, saw, then u can understand what circumstances forced that decision.

Most decisions were deemed the best one at that point in time. No sane person would want to choose a wrong one that would mark his personal or even country's downfall.

So i guess that understanding people's intentions behind decisions is the more important role of history. That's my view.