4 results for "History"

The Use and Abuse of History

Ferro, Marc
A pioneer in its field that has become a key text of contemporary 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.
Routledge 2004-12-11 288 pages

Resentment in history

Ferro, Marc
This book, by a renowned and distinguished historian, is an arresting account of the role that resentment has played throughout history, from Antiquity and early Christianity through to the present day. At the origin of resentment we always find an injury, an act of humiliation, an affront, a trauma. Those who feel victimized cannot react because they are powerless. They brood on their desire for revenge, which they cannot satisfy but which constantly nags at them. Until finally they explode with anger. This period of waiting may also be accompanied by a repudiation of the oppressor's values and a rehabilitation of the victim's own values, and this gives the oppressed new strength, fuelling the act of revolt or revenge. Ferro effortlessly weaves together historical examples such as the role played by resentment in the French and Russian revolutions, the resentment against the historical suffering of African Americans that underpinned the civil rights movement and the rise of black power, and the revival of resentment by proponents of radical Islam whose violent acts of terror in New York, London and elsewhere have shaken the world.
Polity 2010-08-30 150 pages