To help you make decisions as to what historians are of special significance and what interpretations are held, you will want to research some of the historical journals that carry recent research on recent studies e.g. American Heritage Magazine, American Historical Review, Current History, Foreign Affairs, Journal of American History, William and Mary Quarterly. There are also reference works that focus on historiography available in the library. Critical analysis which included a statement of the authors biases and position and how well and by what means this position is supported. History is certainly what has happened in the past, but it is also what different men and women tell us in their writings or film or pictures. The individual's personal interpretation of events is called bias.
Every historian has a bias.
For example, if you are reading The Federalist Papers written by James Madison, it is important to realize Madison's biases in favor of the Constitution, of education and of wealth and his biases against the poorer and less educated. Likewise, if you are reading Charles Beard, one of the leading historians of the first half of this century, you will want to be aware of his biases. If not, you might accept without question Beard's interpretation of the Constitution as a document written by wealthy men for the protection of their own wealth. Knowing that Beard was an economic historian and that he interpreted, as does a Marxist, in terms of economic pressures and class divisions based on wealth, you might not accept all that Beard has to offer. The point is that historians interpret events based on their personal viewpoints the student must learn what these viewpoints or biases are as well as learn the evidence historians presents.