Hi guys, which are good sources of unbiased history books? Since we know, history is written by the winners. How can I (as an amateur historian wannabe) even begin to sort all the truthful information from the rest?
Is English the best source? Would it help learning other language like Greek, or Latin?
I love history in general, but I’m more passionate about Mexican history (since I’m Mexican).
For example, in Mexico, Benito Juarez and Miguel Hidalgo are venerated as the best Mexican heroes, and my general Porfirio Diaz is practically forgotten.
My questions would be:
You may not realise it, but you have a view of history which very few historians share these days. 'Unbiased' history describing how things 'as it really happened' is literally something from the 19th century (Leopold von Ranke and his wie es eigentlich gewesen). Since then there have been many developments in the field of history and historiography, such that nowadays all history is seen as being the product of varying degrees of subjective interpretation (historians might argue to what degree exactly). So getting 'objective' history of 'how things really were' is impossible for practical reasons (no serious academic is even trying to write it any more) as well as philosophical reasons (if someone did try, they'd fail for a whole list of reasons; that's the subject of lengthy tomes).
The best you can do is:
Read multiple sources. Don't rely on just one book. If you're interested in a subject, read multiple books from different authors. Geoffrey Parker's book The Military Revolution - Military Innovation and the Rise of the West is an excellent book with an interesting thesis. It's also wrong. Reading Jeremy Black's War and the World - Military Power and the Fate of Continents would make you aware of an alternate view. Reading some more books would refine your understanding and show that Black too is off the mark in some instances.
When trying to get information from multiple sources, it helps greatly if you can read in another language. Often historians from another country have (subtly) different views or methods. If you want to start learning a language just to get access to more sources/books, the language you should learn depends on what field you're interested in. For instance German scholars have a long tradition of excellent research in Ancient History, so that's an interesting language for Ancient Historians to get acquainted with. For other fields, other languages will be more important.
Be aware of the author's background and prejudices. Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel might seem like an interesting book making mince meat of both Parker and Black, but Diamond is an anthropologist, not an historian. His book has been criticised by historians for failing to take into account things historians have learned about doing history in the last hundred years. His deterministic view of history is rivalled only by the Marxist school of history (again, a mostly 19th century view).
Be aware of the sources the author has used. If a history book doesn't list any sources at all, it's crap. If it just a few pages of 'recommended reading' at the end, it's popular history and probably lacks depth. If has comprehensive notes (endnotes or footnotes), it's a proper history book. Do check the bibliography to see what type of sources are included. Are primary sources (letters, archives, etc) used? Are secondary sources (books, articles) recent and relevant?.