The Use and Abuse of History: or How the Past is Taught to Children

Couverture
Taylor & Francis, 21 août 2003 - 416 pages

A pioneer in its field that has become a key text of current historiography, this is a book that poses fundamental and disturbing questions about the use and abuse of history. Engaging and challenging, it confronts us with the many 'histories' that exist and have existed around the world, from the Zulu kingdoms to Communist China.

The Use and Abuse of History takes as its starting point the way history is taught to children. The different narratives that constitute the histories of countries as diverse as India, Iran, Trinidad and the United States make for fascinating reading in their own right. What makes this book so valuable, though, is what these narratives tell us about the societies which created them - how much is history distorted in order to condition the minds of those who are taught it?

This is a book for anyone interested in history, what it is and where it comes from.

À propos de l'auteur (2003)

Marc Ferro (1924-) President of the Association of Research at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and co-director of the prestigious French review Annales.

Informations bibliographiques