Nouvelle histoire

Nouvelle histoire is a type of history that started in France where people try to understand what happened in the past by looking at weak and strong points in sources. So, historians look at diaries, speeches, things people write and things they say, and try to find what they left out, what they added in and what they didn’t tell the whole truth about. It’s like trying to solve a mystery by digging through clues like a detective.

It’s a bit like when you’re playing a game and you realise someone is cheating but they don’t want to get caught. You might watch them really closely and try to notice when they cheat. Then you can use what you learned to make sure they don’t cheat again. In nouvelle histoire, historians try to find out the truth about the past by paying close attention to details and looking at things from different angles. This way they can paint a more accurate picture of what really happened.