Recommendation Request: Non propaganda history

[u/CriticismExtension46]

Hello, as the title suggests, are there any content creators who make documentaries about history and events throughout time that has only the truth in it and is as realistic as possible? i see alot of documentaries about for example Constantinople but theres always missing pieces, i want to start educating myself on the past with nothing but the truth and without false news, if someone can help me i would appreciate it, i’m stuck for now not knowing who to watch and trust about info

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[u/Hawkson2020]

Something as far back as Constantinople is going to be very hard to find anything on that isn’t biased in some way, if for no other reason than that we’re relying on historical accounts which were rarely written without bias.

Also, calling bias “propaganda” or “fake news” instead of acknowledging that basically all media carries some bias is more likely than not to skew your media consumption towards “things I already agree with/make sense to me” rather than “the unbiased truth”.

[u/Ethelred_Unread]

Hi, I like https://youtube.com/@extrahistory?si=ucEplW7VVxIAFMc6 (Extra Credits - History)

However, you must know that all history has a bias and to a certain extent all is propaganda.

History is always being revised, new angles explored and additional evidence added, taken away, disputed and so on.

So, overall it's best to consider whatever history you are looking at from multiple angles and viewpoints.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historiography is the analysis of history itself, in terms of methods, bias etc - the fact that such a discipline itself exists shows how complicated the subject is.

[u/floppy-kitty]

Historical records are baked with bias at every stage. Initial recording of events, translations, rewriting for narrative. All before a narrator adds their own emphasis, and edits have their turn, and your own ears picking and choosing the message.

Leaving something out can be a statement of "[event] had no real relevance to what we're covering", or "[event] has such obvious relevance that it'd be redundant to tell again" or "[event] is so big, we don't have the time to get into it right now"

A lot of historical research is trying to evaluate how much you can trust from any given source.

[u/BlurryBigfoot74]

Lots of people here saying all history has bias.

I never studied history. But I have watched a lot of documentaries. Particularly the classics.

Documentaries are incredibly biased. Sometimes on purpose, and sometimes unintentionally.

Even cinéma verité documentaries by the likes of Steve James, the Maysles brothers or even Frederick Wiseman leave a biased impression by the characters they choose and the footage they edit.

[u/Bodymaster → u/BlurryBigfoot74]

Yeah it's true that all docs stem from the bias of the creator and cannot be wholly objective, it's the nature of any creative act. But I guess there is difference between the kind of bias that falls under "artistic licence" or "creative interpretation" and the kind that falls under "this probably isn't how it happened" or "you're just making shit up here".

[u/subadai]

might want to bite the bullet and read a few books

[u/CriticismExtension46 → u/subadai]

do you think documentaries are more bias than books in your personal opinion? because how would people create documentaries without the help of written info for example

[u/subadai → u/CriticismExtension46]

Well there are going to be bad books and good documentaries, but I think the best books are going to be far more rigorous than the best documentaries. But you are right to be skeptical of history generally.

Michael Parenti has a great book about the late roman republic and the assassination of Julius Ceasar which dives into the history of how the story of Ceasar has been told. If you are interested in navigating propaganda and these meta-historical issues, that might be a good place to start. There's a lot of discussion of the problems about history, generally speaking. I wish I had a book about Constantinople to recommend, but this is a very solid one about Rome.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37811.The_Assassination_of_Julius_Caesar

[u/Thisgail]

Think of a big something that happened long ago to u and your best friend, then tell the story today and think about it!

[u/MunkSWE94]

Watch one documentary on a certain topic made by some left leaning people and one by some right leaning people and make up your own mind who you think is right..

Someone already said it, all writing history is some kind of propaganda to various degrees.

[u/CriticismExtension46 → u/MunkSWE94]

it honestly depresses me, i love ancient history and want to know the truth about it😅🤦🏻‍♂️

[u/Zellyff → u/CriticismExtension46]

The truth is what we know. Dispite the popular saying history is not written by the victors it's written by the historians.

If history was written by the victors we would never talk about Canada's treatment of the first Nations people, the genocide of the America natives, the comfert woman of Korea, the genocide of the uygers, Armenians or various African populations.