The Past in the Present
The past is always with us. It helped to shape our present; it is helping to mould our future. Now, as never before, it is crucial that historians communicate their knowledge to society at large. It is crucial for them: they need to engage with the needs of society. But it is also crucial for society, since historians form a bulwark against the abuse of the past by the powerful. Historians show what it was to be human in another place at another time; explain the complex and interconnected ways in which societies all over the world have come to share in our global present; and can encourage readers to be sceptical both of all attempts to hijack history for political purposes and of all processes which seek to dehumanise others. This series embraces the wealth of subjects open to the historian, ranging from people and places to music and science. It does so with the support of the insights of a range of disciplines from anthropology to psychology, and with an emphasis both on good writing and on accessibility to the general reader.