He lied like an eyewitness

Supposedly that is an old Russian expression from the time of Stalin. Probably not, though it perfectly captures something too many historians forget: never trust an eyewitness.

On Andrew Sullivan's site there is a reminder of why. Memory is a construct, a fond hope, and a lie. Read the whole thing but here is the best part:

Less than a year after a cargo plane crashed into an Amsterdam apartment building in 1992, 55 percent of the Dutch population said they had watched the plane hit the building on TV. Many of them recalled specifics of the crash, such as the angle of descent, and could report whether or not the plane was on fire before it hit. But the event had not been caught on video.

I have lots of childhood memories that are clear as a bell - but I know that they are not based on anything I actually 'remember'. They are based on my mental reconstructions of stories told to me about myself when I was too small to remember much of anything. I have other memories, equally clear, that when I check with other people or written records simply are impossible. And so it goes.

I was going to say some further brilliant things but now I can't remember them.