Machiavelli saw history as a means to succeed in politics. History, for Voltaire, told the story of the progress of humans conquering over nature through intelligence. Ranke wished to relate exactly what happened. Marx saw history as an economic class struggle for survival. Toynbee saw history as cosmic in size.
History holds different answers at different times.
Humans will never have a complete history since everyone sees the same thing differently. A perfect example is to have a number of artists paint the same still life. Each artist would have their interpretation of what they saw and their own style of portrayal.