Official history An official history is a work of history which is sponsored , authorised , or endorsed by its subject . The term is most commonly used for histories which are produced at a government ' s behest . However , the term may also encompass , for example , company histories , i . e . histories of commercial companies which the company itself has commissioned . An official biography ( one written with the permission , cooperation , and perhaps participation of its subject or its subject ' s heirs ) is often known as an authorized biography . Official histories frequently have the advantage that the author or authors have been given access to archive s , interview subjects and other primary source s which would be closed or inaccessible to independent historians . However , because of the necessarily close relationship between author and subject , such works may be ( or be perceived to be ) partisan in tone , and to lack historical objectivity . In fact , the extent to which official histories are partisan varies considerably : some are indeed little more than exercises in public relations and promotion , whereas in other cases the authors will have retained sufficient independence to be able to express negative as well as positive judgements about their subjects . Historical official histories . There is a long tradition of histories being written or published under official patronage : they include , for example , the " Anglica Historia " ( drafted by 1513 and published in 1534 ) , a history of England written by Polydore Vergil at the request of King Henry VII ; and William Camden ' s " Annales Rerum Gestarum Angliae et Hiberniae Regnate Elizabetha " ( 1615 - 1627 ) , a history of the reign of Elizabeth I of England . In early modern Europe , certain royal courts appointed official historians : these included the Rikshistoriograf in Sweden from 1618 , the Historiographer Royal in England from 1660 , and the Historiographer Royal in Scotland from 1681 . The Scottish post is still in existence . Modern official histories . Modern governments have commissioned official histories for a range of purposes . These include promoting the government ' s achievements , reflecting on past practices , commemorating events and providing an authoritative record for other historians to draw from . Military history is a particularly common topic for official histories to cover . Examples of official military histories include the Australian series " Official History of Australia in the War of 1914 – 1918 " and " Australia in the War of 1939 – 1945 " and the British series " History of the Great War " and " History of the Second World War " . Official histories of Conflicts . One of the main topics that are being addressed by official histories is conflicts that the countries have been involved in . In such cases , the state institutions produce histories that include the historical narratives of the conflicts . Typically , these narratives are biased in favor of the country presenting them , portraying unrealistically itself positively and / or its rival negatively . These histories can be produced by various state institutions such as the Ministry of Education , national information Centers , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and armies . Such an example is the official histories of the State of Israel regarding the 1948 Palestinian exodus ( the exodus of some 650 , 000 Palestinians during their war , with several Arab countries , against the Jews / Israeli - Jews ) . The causes for this exodus were addressed by various Israeli state institutions such as the National Information Center , the Israeli army ( IDF ) and the Ministry of Education ( through its approved history and civics textbooks ) . Between 1949 and 2004 , these institutions presented regarding the causes for the exodus the Zionist narrative ( i . e . , the Palestinians left willingly in 1948 due to calls of their and Arab leaders to leave or due to fear ) . That is , there was not expulsion of Palestinians by the Jewish / Israeli - Jewish fighting forces . All this , despite the fact that expulsions did take place in 1948 , as asserted , since the late 1970s , even by most Israeli - Jewish scholars . There was one exception , though – the Ministry of Education presented since 2000 the critical narrative of the exodus ( at time called post - Zionist ) . That is , that some Palestinians left willingly , for various reasons , while others were expelled . Similar tendency was practiced also by the Palestinians – their official history , as it is manifested in their approved textbooks , presented since the early 2000s the Palestinian narrative about the exodus ( i . e . , all the Palestinians were expelled ) . All this , despite evidence , even from Palestinian scholars , that some of the Palestinians left willingly in 1948 and were not expelled .