David McCullough

The two most popular movies of all time, while not historically accurate, are about core historic events: Gone With The Wind and Titanic.  [And now Avatar, which draws heavily from the historical story of Pocahontas.]  There is a human longing to go back to other times.  We all know how when we were children we asked out parents, ‘What was it like when you were a kid?”  I think it probably has something to do with our survival as a species.  For nine-tenths of the time that human beings have been on earth, knowledge that was essential to survival was transmitted from one generation to the next by the vehicle of story.

from an interview for the National Endowment of Humanities.