Does anyone actually learn Jewish history anymore, or do we just wing it and modify it to suit our ideological needs?
The second option.
The sole purpose of history is to show the proper derech. It is similar to Gedolim “stories” in the Artscroll Seforim. They exist for Mussar and to show the Derech HaYashar, not to actually tell the story of the Gedolim. That would be more for a biography, which Artscroll does not print.