Abstract
Modern historians generally try to refrain from making obvious moral judgments while they search for historical fact or truth. While many historical studies conclude with an assessment of the roles of actors in regard to decisions, actions, and results, open moral judgments have been, for the most part, absent. Nonhistorians, however, tend to begin an inquiry into a historical event with the goal of determining responsibility, blame, or culpability. The author looks at the shifting role of history as a moral judge in relation to the modern and postmodern eras.