History

.Most of us do not think much about history
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Many of us assume that it is an accurate retelling of events in the past
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If we did think about it we can immediately see how it influences the young of every country who are obliged to study history at school
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That is each and every generation in each and every country
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And what do they study?
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And what did we study and what do we think about that today?
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For some of us not much for whatever reasons it did not tick the boxes of our needs or interest in the subject
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And the answer today is much the same 
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Whatever they are given they consume, absorb and learn
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Whatever truth or lies are put in front of them
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This is where history becomes political
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As is often the case, there seem to be two irreconcilable views:
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Those who want the history syllabus to stress national endeavour and achievement
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Those who want it to recognise the failings and blemishes which invariably dirty any country's historical record.
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In Britain's case it is easy to see how arguments become heated when you take just one subject such as the British Empire from the myriad of subjects that make up British history
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Was the British Empire a 'good thing' or a 'bad thing'
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There's no doubt that proponents of both of these interpretations can find ample historical evidence to support the very different arguments they are making.
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But it's more important - and it's much more difficult - to try to strike some sort of balance between them than it is to adopt either of these deeply entrenched adversarial position
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One historian from an earlier time who knew this very well was George Macaulay Trevelyan.
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Towards the end of his life, he gave his considered verdict, and it was revealingly - and rightly - even-handed.
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Having lived through the devastation and the destruction of two world wars, he reluctantly agreed with Edward Gibbon that much of history was indeed a "register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind".
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But he also insisted that history was, in addition, "the register of the splendour of man, and of his occasional good fortune, of which our island has had more than its share".
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Who, for example, should decide what history is taught in schools:
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Should it be the government?
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Or academic experts
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Or examination boards
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Or the schools themselves
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Or even the parents
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What is the balance that should be struck between teaching the history of England, of Britain, of the British Empire, of Europe, of the United States, of China or of the world as a whole?
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Is the teaching of history about chronology and narrative
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Or about analysis and structure
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Or about information and detail
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Or about imagination and empathy
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Or about a combination of some or all of these things?
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Should it be concerned with extended periods of time, to give a sense of the length of the past
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Or with shorter periods which can be studied in greater depth?
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For how many hours a week should history be taught in schools?
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And to what age should it be made compulsory?
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Who should decide what gets taught?
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The Institute of Historical Research, is looking into the history of the teaching of history in schools in England since it first became a serious activity early in the 20th Century.
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In America and Russia too this subject is becoming more contentious and for exactly the same reasons
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And one of the most important discoveries so far has been the extent to which similar questions have been asked across the decades and generations
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Often in complete ignorance of how they've been answered before.
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At the very least, any discussion of the teaching of history in English, American or other schools should be informed by an historical perspective.
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History is not just a simple subject as you might have thought
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History informs the minds of each generation
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Not only that countries that deny their excesses, massacres and truly terrible pasts leave a psychological imprint on that society
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An imprint that cannot go away until they acknowledge that event or series of events
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These events or periods are often internal and are as important for a country to acknowledge as those atrocities they might have committed externally
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There is a way to go yet then for most countries
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History is an important subject for all countries and is not just as an academic exercise
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To a very important degree it shapes how we see ourselves, our country and our planet