I would never pretend not to be biased. Being human, I can't help it. All one can do (if they even wish to) is to try and make it more subtle.
My bias is going to always be clear where "death by government" is concerned. Put 2 countries next to each other, and the one with the bigger democide body count is worse (bigger by number, or ratio of population). The US killed at least a few hundred thousand civilians that might not have been killed, but the japs bumped off millions (and that's without going into bombing actually saving net lives, which it very likely did (doesn't suck less if you're the one getting bombed, though)).
As for "professionals," it's more a matter of time than anything else. Primary sources, for example. I'm very well read in a few areas of history (ww2 in particular), and I am long past "popular" mass-market books in ww2, anyway. Still, I simply don't have the time or inclination to look at primary sources much except for some stuff on the net now (many of the post-war interrogations of japanese officers are now online, and are fascinating reads). It clearly gets far more complex as you get farther back into ancient history, as you need to start thinking about archeology, etc. "Primary sources" would be a dream come true for many areas/eras, no?
History is NOT a "science," however.
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"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." — Thomas Paine
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