The difficulty of finding the "real" Socrates arises because these works are often philosophical or dramatic texts rather than straightforward histories.

The notion of precatory words (verba precativa or precaria ) has a history not altogether straightforward.

Had Sudhalter written a straightforward history of white jazzmen, he might well have made a contribution to the debate about culture and national identity.

He tended to fictionalize his secondary viewpoints, too, so his Annals are not always absolutely straightforward history.

Manages also to give a good "slice of life" overview of the political/racial turmoil in Sri Lanka, without being a straightforward history of it.

The breadth of information in the book is impressive, ranging from straightforward history to traditional Siddha medicine to the intricacies of tiger hunting.

Her book is both a straightforward history of the debate and an anthology of essays written by partisans on each side.

Since that time, it has had a fairly straightforward taxonomic history.

Though "Cold War" is long, it is also gripping, straightforward history.

Mr. Gillespie's book, published in 1999, is a straightforward history, well researched and plainly written.