I think it’s that genuine interest bit, as well as the fact that history has been drilled down into my least favorite word of the 21st century: “content.” It’s what happened, so it’s all legitimate, it’s all uncritical, and it’s all equal.

Oddly enough the authors even adress the question of bias and similar issues...but they seem to perceive it only as contemporary perceptions interfering with 'proper' programming. The problem of the source material, what an "ancient roman focus group" would be (or ever existed) on the other hand...