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apples and oranges

(1,451 posts) Thu Jul 28, 2016, 10:41 AM Jul 2016

How do we ensure the accuracy of our "history" books? [View all]

I often see comments about how "History will show..." what a great President Obama was, or what a disaster Bush's presidency was, but isn't that dependent on who is documenting history? Bill O'Reilly thinks of himself as historian. He writes "history" books. That's disturbing on multiple levels.

“History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books-books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?”

― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code

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How do we ensure the accuracy of our "history" books? [View all] apples and oranges Jul 2016 OP

That depends on how much we really care for our democracy. Look at what TX has done. tonyt53 Jul 2016 #1

And then the whole country gets them. merrily Jul 2016 #4

History is written by the victors, which is why winning matters the most. BobbyDrake Jul 2016 #2

If winning matters most, then there is no room to complain when Bush Exilednight Jul 2016 #22

By writing our own. It doesn't have to be a textbook or even a book. merrily Jul 2016 #3

I actually detest the whole "history will show" or "wrong side of history" language... MadDAsHell Jul 2016 #5

history books are always biased TexasProgresive Jul 2016 #6

I taught high school history and I hate........ mrmpa Jul 2016 #10

Just think of how Britain portrayed the Irish. TexasProgresive Jul 2016 #13

My Grandmother (dad's mom) was born in County Cork....... mrmpa Jul 2016 #14

God willing and I win the lottery TexasProgresive Jul 2016 #15

I fell in love with Kinsale. mrmpa Jul 2016 #16

From that pic it looks much the same as it did in 93. TexasProgresive Jul 2016 #17

It doesn't look much changed either from 2003........... mrmpa Jul 2016 #20

Win. Iggo Jul 2016 #7

We're all prisoners of history The2ndWheel Jul 2016 #8

I tell my grandchildren if they want to know how an event went down, go to the shraby Jul 2016 #9

Here's the thing about history. Avalux Jul 2016 #11

That was before video cameras snooper2 Jul 2016 #19

Video will certainly help to verify. Avalux Jul 2016 #21

I don't think that applies now treestar Jul 2016 #12

YouTube snooper2 Jul 2016 #18