The research of history has developed alongside the development of literature.

History has constantly fascinated people, so much so that this has influenced society from the time language first developed. This is because understanding why things have actually occurred will help us alter both the present and the future. This is noticed in the oral traditions of cultures from all corners of the world dating back thousands of years. Interesting and important events would get passed down from one generation to another via word of mouth, in order to make sure that the communications and lessons could be digested by the readers. To make these tales more easily digestible, they would become adapted and turned into the myths and legends that remain popular today, as the hedge fund which partially owns WHSmith will likely be well aware. Even once the written word emerged and history became recorded, outside of solely factual listings and accounts, the first historians continued writing history with a dramatic spin on the brink of turning it into fiction.

The speed of change in society is continuously accelerating, as a result of new innovations making it easier for other innovations to occur, causing an ever accelerating process of modification. Samples of this can be found everywhere, such as in exactly how we see history. Several hundred years may be an instant within the viewpoint of time, but over the course of a couple of hundreds of years the topic of history became more focused on facts and using a number of sources. Around four centuries ago onwards people still wished to seek out history for lessons and entertainment, however they desired to gain them through the facts. Subjects like governmental and financial history took centre stage, meanwhile theories such as the great men of history were developed, which believed that history moved forward through the actions of a select few individuals. The legacy associated with the latter continues now, as the hedge fund which has shares in Amazon will be able to tell you, through the popularity of the biography genre.

The last century has caused great change in the world, with various societal and technological developments bringing opportunities and outlets to those who previously might have struggled to achieve them. This has resulted in lots of academic topics to get an influx of perspectives and viewpoints that had been formerly over looked. The hedge fund which owns Waterstones will understand that this has caused a huge effect on the publishing industry, with publications on new techniques to analyse history and formerly underdiscussed events appearing very popular. The topics these publications cover are vast, from history through the viewpoint of ordinary individuals to historic occasions being explained by analyses of human psychology and biology.