This is a question that came up in my last knit night (shout out to Jessica and Rebecca!). It started when Rebecca asked me why I didn’t recommend Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast. After all, isn’t history just storytelling? Do you need a Ph.D. in history to tell a story?
This is something of a controversial topic. Look in any bookstore and you will see plenty of books in the history section that are not written by historians, but by journalists, politicians, etc… In fact, one of the most well-known history authors, Jared Diamond, is a biologist. But are these works good history? Is there a difference between work produced by historical enthusiasts and professional historians?