The document outlines the method of historical inquiry which involves recalling, interpreting, illustrating, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information from the past. It discusses how historians recall facts, read between the lines to interpret events, illustrate ideas, apply the past to understand the present, analyze situations by breaking them into parts and timelines, synthesize information to find patterns and draw conclusions, and evaluate people and events by examining multiple sides and judging them against standards. The overall purpose of studying history according to the document is to better understand the present and past in order to avoid making similar mistakes.