History and national life

About this book

"At a time when everyone is talking of the new popularity of history - this book takes a longer-term view of the question, why do we care about it? Peter Mandler starts by reminding us of the nationalist origins of a truly popular interest in history in the nineteenth century. In Britain, history reached out for the first time to a larger constituency by putting the 'Anglo-Saxon' people at the centre of their own national history. This legacy casts a long shadow. In practice, people have been drawn to history for many other reasons, but it is still too casually assumed that its 'point' is to tell us 'who we are' and 'where we come from'."--BOOK JACKET.