The Uses and Abuses of History - Softcover

Margaret MacMillan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1846682045 ISBN 13: 9781846682049

Publisher: Profile Books, 2009

Synopsis

The past is capricious enough to support every stance - no matter how questionable. In 2002, the Bush administration decided that dealing with Saddam Hussein was like appeasing Hitler or Mussolini, and promptly invaded Iraq. Were they wrong to look to history for guidance? No; their mistake was to exaggerate one of its lessons while suppressing others of equal importance. History is often hijacked through suppression, manipulation, and, sometimes, even outright deception. MacMillan's book is packed full of examples of the abuses of history. In response, she urges us to treat the past with care and respect.

About this title

About the Author:

Margaret MacMillan is the author of Women of the Raj and international bestsellers Nixon in China and Peacemakers: The Paris Conference 1919 and Its Attempt to End the War. The past provost of Trinity College at the University of Toronto, she is now the warden of St. Antony's College at Oxford University.

Review:

MacMillan is a distinguished historian who has written illuminatingly on topics as diverse as the 1919 Paris peace conference and Nixon in China. Perhaps more unusually she is also a gifted writer, and her account of the various uses of history is wonderfully accessible. Her message - that we cannot help invoking the past when we try to shape the future, but should use it with due caution and humility - is a salutary one for politicians -- John Gray * Guardian * This is history used as its own best argument -- Geoff Pevere * The Toronto Sun * In a world where the spin doctor has replaced the historian, MacMillan reminds readers of the importance of dispassionate, fact-driven narrative, as opposed to reassuring or self-serving accounts that pass for history while burying the unpleasant truths. -- Michael Harris * Ottawa Sun * This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the importance of correctly understanding the past. * Publishers Weekly * an elegant writer as well as a notable historian * Sunday Telegraph * A thoughtful and accessible study * BBC History Magazine * No history lover should fail to digest the lessons of this short but brilliant book -- Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph * A magnificent book, wise and timely * Tribune * Margaret MacMillan's polemical The Uses and Abuses of History is full of robust common sense * NZ Listener * This small compact book is one of the best summaries of the ways that history can be put into illicit ideological service or manipulated for purposes of propaganda. It is one hundred percent lucid and could be read by the general reader as well as the academic * Investigate - NZ * Erudite and thought-provoking -- Penelope Lively Both timely and justified -- Tom Holland * Observer *

About this edition

• Publisher: Profile Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1846682045
• ISBN 13: 9781846682049
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256