Practical realism emphasises that historical facts derive from tangible material documents and hard supporting evidence.
For example, the olympic charter, is a concrete document, separate
from any language historians might use to describe it. Similarly, the charter limits the factual assertions that historians can extract from it and hence the interpretations they put forward.
Practical realists concede that all histories begin from the personal interests
and cultural attributes of the historian. They admit that no knowledge is neutral and
that its production involves struggles between different interest groups.
Nonetheless,
they reject the view that historical narratives are forms of literature. Likewise, they
dismiss the charge that constant reassessment of the past is proof that the field lacks objectivity: reassessment reflects attempts by successive generations to give new meaning to the past.
I discuss practical realism further in Chapter 2.