The use and abuse of history, or, How the past is taught to children

[A]s long as the past is principally used as a model for imitation, it is always in danger of being a little altered and touched up and brought nearer to fiction. Sometimes there is no possible distinction between a "monumental" past and a mythical romance... -from The Use and Abuse of History He's one of the most controversial thinkers of the 19th century: Nietzsche and his works have been by turns vilified, lauded, and subjected to numerous contradictory interpretations, and yet he remains a figure of profound important, and his works a necessary component of a well-rounded education. In this 1873 essay, Nietzsche discusses the inevitably subjective lenses through which we see, explore, examine, and lend meaning to the events and characters of the past. As we find ourselves plunged into times that feel of urgent and "historic" significance, Nietzsche's reflections and speculations are newly provocative, whether we agree with them or not. German psychologist and philosopher FRIEDRICH WILHELM NIETZSCHE (1844-1900) was appointed special professor of classical philology at the University of Basel at the precocious age of 24, but he found himself dissatisfied with academic life and created an alternative intellectual society among friends including composer Richard Wagner, historian Jakob Burckhardt, and theologian Franz Overbeck. Among his philosophical works are Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, Ecce Homo, and The Anti-Christ. [A]s long as the past is principally used as a model for imitation, it is always in danger of being a little altered and touched up and brought nearer to fiction. Sometimes there is no possible distinction between a "monumental" past and a mythical romance... -from The Use and Abuse of History As one of the most controversial thinkers of the 19th century, Nietzsche and his works have been vilified, lauded, and subjected to numerous contradictory interpretations, and yet he remains profoundly important, and his works are a necessary component of a well-rounded education.In this 1873 essay, Nietzsche discusses the inevitably subjective lenses through which we see, explore, examine, and lend meaning to the events and characters of the past. As we find ourselves plunged into times that feel of urgent and "historic" significance, Nietzsche's reflections and speculations are newly provocative, whether we agree with them or not. German psychologist and philosopher FRIEDRICH WILHELM NIETZSCHE (1844-1900) was appointed special professor of classical philology at the University of Basel at the precocious age of 24. However, he found himself dissatisfied with academic life and created an alternative intellectual society among friends including composer Richard Wagner, historian Jakob Burckhardt, and theologian Franz Overbeck. Among his philosophical works are Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, Ecce Homo, and The Anti-Christ. Use and Abuse of History 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, this book confronts the reader with the many 'histories' that exist and have existed around the world, from the Zulu kingdoms to Communist China.This title has now been extensively revised by Marc Ferro, a well respected historian, and presents the different narratives that constitute the histories of countries as diverse as India, Iran, Trinidad and the United States make