Journalism is the enemy of history when it comes to constructing a scholarly account of recent conflicts, according to Britain’s leading military historian, Antony Beevor, who spoke recent at the famous Hay-on-Wye book festival.
You can read more about Beevor’s opinions here.
I was struck about how dismissive Beevor was to economic history.
Beevor also threw himself into the debate on the history curriculum, after education secretary Michael Gove enthusiastically embraced Niall Ferguson’s campaign for “real history” at the Guardian Hay festival.
Children should be taught narrative history, said Beevor. “History is a question of cause and effect. You need to take events in order to make sense of them.”
Asked whether local history might be incorporated into this grand-sweep approach he said: “How far you go into the local weaving industry or iron industry – I’m sorry, I think that tends to be tourist history rather than real history.”
I’ve enjoyed Beevor’s books. He is a great narrative historian. Every academic historian looking to improve his or her writing style should read Beevor. However, his dismissive attitude to industrial history suggests a degree of myopia as a military history– factories make the guns that win the wars. Rich countries don’t always win wars, but money is the sinew of war. History is indeed about cause and effect.
The Past Speaks 