David Pena poses for a photograph with his Lada 2101 built in 1979 on a street in Havana February 9, 2015. Getting parts from the United States is cheaper than in Cuba, where state-run stores sell them at four times the cost, said Pena, a mechanic and president of the Russian Car Club in Havana who drives a souped-up, sporty red 1972 Lada 2101 that he fixed himself. His own Lada has a Fiat engine and an extra Alfa Romeo carburetor. (Photo by Enrique De La Osa/Reuters)

Do you think that history is a science? Well, not exactly. First, and foremost, history is the state's “legend of wars”, it’s official regalia. Of course, public historians are not interested in scientific truth – quite the opposite. In this respect, any attempt to present a state’s history as altruistic and benevolent as possible is welcomed and encouraged – as opposed to any revisionism attempts that may be more accurate. In this matter, Chinese have surpassed us all – they revised in highly creative manner (but rather shamelessly) the technology already invented by Europeans, a process that resulted in oldest state on the planet. Here is an interesting paradox: ask any sinologist about the Middle Kingdom during second century B.C., and he will describe it to you in such a vivid manner as if he has been living there all his life – but as soon as you will ask him to describe Chinese history in the 19-20th centuries… let's say, his eagerness will be greatly diminished. However, we will discuss China in a different article, and in the meantime we will try to understand how exactly historic “legend of wars” is formed and functions – based on a specific and well-known example. A great example is Ferdinand Magellan's first voyage around the world.

A Sunni Muslim child plays in the rain as she arrives for Eid al-Fitr prayers at the shrine of cleric Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Gailani in Baghdad, Iraq on March 31, 2025. (Photo by Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters)

A tornado builds and travels southwest causing damage near Dean Rd. and 82nd Avenue in Hutchinson, Kan. on Monday, July 13, 2015. (Photo by Sandra J. Milburn/The Hutchinson News via AP Photo)

Nepal's Kumari, or living goddess, adjusts her ornament as she watches the Rato Machindranath chariot Festival in Lalitpur, Nepal, Friday, April 24, 2015. Nepal's living goddesses are young pre-pubescent girls considered by devotees to be incarnations of a Hindu goddess. Selected as toddlers, living goddesses usually keep their positions until they reach puberty. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

A woman prays as she touches the carcass of a male elephant after he, according to forest officials, was electrocuted early morning in a paddy field on the outskirts of Guwahati, India, June 20, 2017. (Photo by Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters)

The Hindus of Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia, carry out their annual Ngaben cremation on April 4, 2022, when they place the bones of those who have died over the past year on to floating animal forms in a ceremony that is said to release the souls of the deceased. (Photo by Gede Sudika/Solent News/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Photographer Howard Schatz had an idea: place actors in a series of roles and dramatic situations to reveal the essence of their characters. Such was the premise behind his book, In Character: Actors Acting, which captures some of Hollywood’s most emotive stars in the act of, well, making faces. Luckily for us, he continued the tradition for Vanity Fair. Here are some of the best.