Let's not forget . . .

Terry Hunt explains why it’s so important we understand the past

- Terry Hunt

I FIND HISTORY endlessly fascinating. It was my favourite subject at school, so it was probably no surprise I went on to study it at university. There are people who dismiss it. “What’s the point in being interested in all that stuff from hundreds of years ago? You can’t change any of it,’’ they say.

Well, we can’t change it. But what we can do – must do – is learn from it. Understanding the past explains the world we have today. And we should be able to learn from mistakes of the past – there have certainly been enough of them.