Was Bavaria's fairy-tale king murdered? Why did the French and the British really get involved in the Crimean War? And what on earth was the Beast of Gevaudan? (above)
History throws up fascinating mysteries, all the more so, because no one really knows for sure what went on in the past. Winston Churchill who said that history is written by the victors, so how much of what we think we know about the past, comes from the same sort of spin we get from today's politicians and their PR people?
History isn't just interesting, its also useful and can provide insights into what's going on today. If, that is, you look at what people actually did and do rather than what they tell you they did, and definitely not at what people today think they should have done.
Philosopher of War, Carl Von Clausewitz once wrote: "If criticism dispenses praise or censure, it should seek to place itself as nearly as possible at the same point of view as the person acting, that is to say, to collect all he knew and all the motives on which he acted, and to leave out of consideration, all that the person acting could not or did not know, and above all the result."
Sound like a good start point for an investigation?
- Will the Real Nikola Tesla Please Stand up! Engineering and Technology Magazine
- Did advances in technology encourage Britain and France to get involved in the Crimean War - a local conflict between Russia and the Ottoman Empire? Engineering and Technology Magazine
- The Nazis used communications technology and laws passed by Weimar politicians to regulate its use, to establish control in Germany and spread their lies and hate. Have we learned our lessons yet? Engineering and Technology Magazine
- The History of London's West End- Britain Magazine
- Sherlock Holmes and an 18th Century French mystery concerning a real-life Hound of the Baskervilles - History Today Magazine
- Miner's Strike, 1984, and the decline of the British coal Industry Engineering and Technology Magazine
Credits include: Sierra Magazine, BBC History Magazine, Reader's Digest Magazine, German Life, Earth Island Journal, Scots Magazine, Dance Dynamic, Archant Life, Times Educational Supplement, Fortean Times, Scottish Memories, the Cricketer, Best of British
Need history writing that reveals not just what happened, but why it matters?
