Knowing the eventual outcome can distort the way earlier decisions are interpreted. Reading history forward means reconstructing the options available to people at the time and asking why some were taken while others were closed off. Starting with a predetermined explanation risks collecting confirmation for it instead of investigating the causes. Alternate-history questions offer a way to examine those choices.
Notable Point · 3:24:36-3:25:42
Reading history through the choices available at the time
Historical explanation requires attention to unrealized options and contemporary constraints, as well as the path events ultimately took.