Responsible History by Antoon De Baets

by Cliopatria

[From the Publisher:] The abuse of history is common and quite possibly once more on the rise. Although this is well documented, there is no general theory that enables historians to identify, prove, explain, and evaluate the many types of abuse of history. In this book, the author, founder of the Network of Concerned Historians, presents such a theory. Reflecting on the responsible use of history, the author identifies the duties that the living has toward the dead and analyzes the rights to memory and history necessary to fulfill these duties. He concludes his powerful argument by proposing a code of ethics as a guide for responsible historians. This work is vital for any historian who wants to oppose and prevent the abuse of history.

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DeWayne Edward Benson - 5/31/2009

In my 74 years that began with reading children fairy tales, progressing to Kingdom/Dynasty/Empire histories, I find in later life that fairy tales of childhood held perhaps more accuracy toward truth.
It is at least a validity of the Christian Bible, that teaches much as seen is not as it appears, and what instead is seen by the eye of the spirit is in detail and fact the truer.
One only example I will give is related to a mention of the articles author, it was not Saddam Hussein as commonly believed today as the first man authorizing poison gas used on Iraq citizens, instead it was another by the name of Winston Churchil in 1925 believing it a worthy method to control a rebellious people under their League of Nation protection (and in no way related to oil now replacing coal to power the British navy... perhaps).