The Relativism of Historical Truth

[David Horta Alonso]

Abraham Lincoln once said that not everything you read on the internet is the truth. Some are just written for the sake without any proper research. The same applies to historical fictions preserved in the archives and museums. Some could be falsified information.

[GabbiV]

The search for the “truth” is what initially attracted me to this book, and had the romance aspect not taken over, I would have loved to read more about a dynamic duo solving discrepencies within the art world.

[Kajori Sheryl Paul]

I believe History can never be objective. As it is recorded by someone or the other, it always subjective and never completely impartial. However, History never ceases to interest me. So I will definitely look up the various historical aspects of this book.

[David Horta Alonso]

Abraham Lincoln once said that not everything we read is true. Some are falsified information without a proper backing.

[DathanReeves]

I've been to Italy, maybe not to every place noted in the book, but what I read was quite Italian. I personally don't feel the necessity of googling.

[TALIA ONYANGO]

Some history that people believe to be true are all a bunch of lies. Some history lies. It is prudent to conduct research from various sources to assess the veracity of information one seeks to rely upon.

[David Horta Alonso]

The truth in the past is surely limited. Different sites provide different versions of the past. It is hard to know which information is right from wrong.

[LennyDots]

I think the first thing you learn studying history AFTER high school is that pretty much everything you learned about history growing up is based in misconception, propaganda, oversimplification, and viewing facts and events outside their historical context. It's always a fascinating Google dive, but if you want to go down that rabbit hole be prepared. Any one of us can fill a book with what we didn't know we didn't know.

[David Horta Alonso]

There's is no such thing as absolute truth.

[Mee_maw]

Sadly I don't double check things as often as I should. I hope I don't catch myself quoting something from the book as fact without double checking it first.

[kelvinmwaniki17]

I believe that the truth is basically what history and all of humanity believes is right

[Fozia-Bajwa]

I can relate the story with history by searching in the past but the history may be difficult to compare with it. As the historical truths and facts mentioned in the story may be totally different.

[Pappap12]

I was very concerned about the historical accuracy of the Germans bombing Italy in the latter part of WWII. Seemed that as late as the action takes place the decimated German Air Force was more focused on halting the advance of the Allied Armies from the North (Britain and the U.S.) and East (Russia) than from the South. Seemed to me that most bombing of Italy came from the allies to in the South moving from South (Sicily and North Africa) and would have been largely completed by these dates. Air attacks from Germany would have been defensive for the most part unlike earlier attacks in Britain to psychologically intimidate the populace. They just didn't have the resources.

[ShareTheGift]

I use Google or look things up using other sources quite frequently when reading or watching TV. It could be looking up an event, verifying an individual's identity, or checking out a place.

[Kareka88]

As she learns the real story of the painting, she ponders on the relativism of historical truth: “It makes you wonder how many other things we consider true about the past are shadowed in misconceptions and cover-ups.”

What are your views on the matter? Would you be tempted to google some historical names and places in the novel to distinguish between fact and fiction?

That’s the joy of reading historical fiction. Separating facts from the fiction. And yes, many times history is slanted according to the writers opinion. Just like eye witnesses reportings of an event are slanted due to their personal and unique view.