Title: Problems of history
Headings: Problems of history
Problems of history
Generalisation
Conspiracy theories
Myths and mythology
Nationalism
Nostalgia
‘The noble savage’
Eurocentrism
‘Top-down’ or ‘bottom-up’?
The militarisation of history

Content: Most people tend to value story over analysis. When thinking about the past, they like clear and simple explanations. They like to assign responsibility, liability or ‘blame’. They like interesting and ‘complete’ narratives with moral heroes, immoral culprits and satisfying endings. They also like to think their own nations and societies to be more advanced, civilised or culturally superior than others. As good history students know, this is not conducive to ‘good history’. History is rarely simple or clear-cut, nor is it filled with obvious villains or fulfilling resolutions. This page summarises some of the problems that can cloud our thinking about the past. These problems are more common in popular history – but historians and history students are by no means immune from them. Generalisation
A significant problem when thinking about history is our habit of thinking in general terms.