Dear Dr. Boli: As a historian of recent events, I often find myself in the delicate situation of having to give an objective account of some political figure with whose policies I disagreed violently. How can I maintain scrupulous fairness toward the weasels whose sordid affairs it is my duty to chronicle? —Sincerely, David McCullough.

Dear Sir: If you work hard to master your prejudices, you can approach your political differences with your subject in a mature and dignified manner, as befits an adult historian rather than a fourth-grader. For example, the iconodule writers who took on the task of narrating the reign of the iconoclast emperor Constantine V never mentioned his name without adding the epithet Copronymus, and so as Constantine Poopyhead he has passed into history. This technique gave their productions a calm dignity and sober style that have greatly enhanced their reputations among historians, and surely you can find a way of adapting it for your own purposes.