Abstract
Analyzes a 17th-century historiographical debate involving René Descartes, François La Mothe La Vayer, and Pierre Bayle on the veracity of historical knowledge. From this discussion the analysis moves to 20th-century historical novelists and their work - Umberto Eco's 'Name of the Rose,' Thomas Keneally's 'Schindler's List,' and others whose writings narrow the gap between history and fiction, allowing some historians (such as Hayden White) to promote the idea of "the fictions of factual representation." Probably the best historical writing, however, is that which acknowledges and incorporates other points of view into the historical narrative.