All the History You Can Remember

As might be expected in a culture where "learning the lessons of history" means destroying countries which do not threaten us (it worked for Hitler, after all), historical ignorance is on the rise along with all the other kinds. A Great British History Quiz by the History Channel found that three-quarters of people under twenty-five did not connect James Watt with the steam engine and did not know which king signed Magna Carta. It is just about possible that even fewer know exactly what James Watt did or what significance the signing of Magna Carta holds. People from Scotland, who have a different education system as well as numerous historical grievances, scored higher than those from the mainland.

This relaxed attitude towards our heritage is, of course, a Good Thing. It is necessary for history, like all things, to catch up with modernity. History is not a presentational skill and does not serve to maximalise the potential of human resources to enhance the financial growth of a transforming economy in a competitive world. If people wish to learn significant facts of history, like who won the war or how nasty and evil the Russians are, there are any number of heritage sites around the country which will multimediatise the appropriate perspective. Mainstream news media can also provide handy timelines, showing in depth the history of Muslim relations with enlightenment values since 1979 in Iran, 1986 in Libya or 1990 in Iraq. Why teach history in school when children could be sitting more exams and hearing the word of God?