I'm working on a biography of Hatton Sumners and . . .

I'm working on a biography of Hatton Sumners, and I just now read a really cogent explanation by an excellent historian of the type of history known as biography:

"biography is like any other historical work. You pick your topic, you tell your narrative, and you hope to educate the reader about the importance and causalities of both. While biography has its pitfalls and limitations, it also offers perspectives on the past that cannot be as effectively accomplished through other methodologies. Done right, biography is both highly readable and informative. It educates readers in ways in which institutional or thematic histories are less effective—namely, mixing the personal with the public. Hence, although biography can’t replace institutional or thematic history, neither can alternate methodology fully replace what biography brings to the table either."

Charles L. Zelden, "All Rise: The Prospects and Challenges of Lower Federal Judicial Biography to Federal Judicial History," ch. 5 in Gautham Rao, Winston A. Bowman, and Clara J. Altman, eds., Approaches to Federal Judicial History (Fed. Judicial Center, Jan. 23, 2020) available at www.fjc.gov/sites/default/files/materials/50/Approaches%20to%20Federal%20Judicial%20History.pdf.