For context, I absolutely do not mean this as a "gotcha" question. Also, I believe the study of history is very important, and plan on continuing with it.
However, something that bugs me is how subjective our interpretations of past events are, and how oftentimes studying history means studying someone else's interpretation of the past rather than what actually happened. Of course, I am aware of how historical accounts are put together, and how when we study history we also want to learn and interpret that past rather than just learn raw information about it. However, for example I feel like when I am reading a history book I have to think critically just as much about the historian and their biases as the event/subject itself.
So, that said, how do students of history approach the subjective nature of history and benefit from its study while learning from the past?
That’s the wonder of history: it doesn’t just teach us about events in the past. Really, it’s a study of ourselves. Humankind, that is. Both the people in history and the people studying it - the historian, author, student, etc.
What you describe in bold is historiography. The idea that a biased historian (they all are) create biased work. And we, with our biases, have to decide what we like and don’t like from it - based not just on our ideologies but based on other history we have read. No historian will ever grasp truth in the same way that a chemist or mathematician might (although much of that research becomes theoretical at high enough levels). Instead we wade through subjective perspectives in order to think for ourselves.
You can tell that I love this stuff.
Personally, when really digging into a subject I l study as many different sources as possible, ideally from different angles. That will leave you with a “mosaic” from which to understand that event. If it’s a generic sort of research, single-volume histories that are well-reviewed are usually enough for me.
If you’re interested in reading more about the study of history I recommend History: A Very Short Introduction by John H. Arnold, or The Whig Interpretation of History by Herbert Butterfield.