Robert Tombs | Are the History Wars Worth Fighting?

In our eighth Ramsay Lecture for 2023, eminent UK historian and founder of the History Reclaimed movement Professor Robert Tombs ponders ‘Are the History Wars Worth Fighting?
Is our past really being misrepresented in our schools, cultural institutions, and broader society; leading to the history of the West being presented as one only worthy of shame, apology, and reparations? Or are the ‘history wars’ merely an invention of the paranoid, to stir up synthetic controversy and prevent belated recognition of dark sides of our past?
Professor Tombs examines the cost to society from historical half-truths, whether in the form of violence, a loss of sense of community, or a belief that violence, racism and exploitation in the past is a permanent feature of the West in the present day.
He argues that while we must recognise difficult aspects of our past, we need to “…urge society to remember accurately, fully and honestly, and to understand the vital differences between the past and the present, crucial to understanding both our forebears and ourselves.”
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[@richarddelanet]

Love the question at about 1:16:28.........

[@phwbooth]

My own university, Liverpool, made a fool of itself, by taking W.E. Gladstone's name from the title of one of its halls of residence.

[@garyjohns2693]

Bravo! the fightback begins!

[@ericjohnson9468]

ABOUT TIME!…

[@natureboy2234]

You are witnessing the making of history itself. Cause and effect. The point here is mostly moot.

[@richarddelanet]

What would that be in your thinking, if I may? Merely impressions and experiences or plain everyday fair-mindedness? objectivity

[@nowarwithrussiaandchina4667]

Although this might be a gross overgeneralization, the primary gift of the Western world in the modern age is it's scientific method, thought and industrial application while it's primary scourge is it's insatiable desire to dominate and dictate it's power and values to the rest of the planet via colonization and more recently interventions and regime change. Is it a crime to acknowledge the vast suffering caused by Western colonization and imperialism? The sooner Western leaders understand that the rest of the world is grateful for the scientific, industrial and economic contributions from Western history, it does not seek to replicate the values/cultures and prefers a different path; the sooner we will have a peaceful 21st century.

[@gabrielegaven3094]

WHY shall a WAR worth be fighting in the first Place? and WHY are we still talking about Wars and Fight? and What is wrong with Mankind that TALK for PEACE we have and there is No Peace? There is something wrong with our thinking I guess, for I do Not understand this Concept.....only my words.... Thank you for this video...

[@belindamay8063]

@Many. of Tomb’s critics seem to be in thrall to an ideal that might be described as “ Universalised Man”. No such creature exists - or should exist. In fact it looks very like the totalitarianism that modish thinkers are supposed to deplore. History, like philosophy, is full of unanswered questions, routes for exploration. - we should accept that , and see it as a strength. I never trust any movement that claims to know all the answers. I particularly dislike the ones that are dedicated to the process of demonising, and the rallying of hatred. Blaming the living for the actions of the dead. For that is the meeting-place of the extremes of the Right and the Left. They sanctify victimhood - which is dangerously morbid and perverse. They peddle excitement and release, distracting us from our current duty -the essential business of caring and providing for each other

[@thomashouze5990]

Unfortunantely, this analysis, while on the surface seems to appear to be attempting to break down the popularist revision of history also easy lends itself to the crazies. Just look at the comments, its elements, tends to lean into a conservative romanticized interpretation of the past, which may not resonate with everyone. Some might argue that emphasizing a "balanced view" of Western history is self serving and subjective and the critique of "historical half-truths" can be interpreted as dog whistles catering to certain right-wing factions, especially those opposing more critical takes on Western history.

[@evaristus4821]

Robert Toombs, as much as I respect him as a historian, makes a very flawed and extremely biased presentation here.