UNLIKE myself, who is very public, most historians are modest and unassuming people but to their great credit, have produced major contributions to our knowledge of our past. In my humble capacity, I try to bring this knowledge closer to people through my public work.

This modesty, perhaps, is the reason why historians rarely define who they are despite it being a profession. With other professions, it is quite clear. When one attains a doctor of medicine degree and then passes the medical board then, and only then, can one be called a medical doctor. The work of a historian, being interpretative and subjective despite the methodology, will never have the same kind of qualifying exam.