TRIGGERnometry The Best Conversation About History You’ve Ever Heard - Dominic Sandbrook
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Aug 24, 2025 
Dominic Sandbrook, a celebrated British historian and co-host of The Rest is History, dives into the complexities of historical narratives. He critiques the simplification of moral lessons in history and challenges perceptions of figures like Thomas Jefferson and Winston Churchill, emphasizing their dual legacies. Sandbrook also discusses how engaging children's interest in history often involves dramatic tales and critiques the romanticized views of leadership exemplified by tyrants like Stalin and Hitler. He underscores the cyclical nature of history and its moral implications.
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Tone Shapes Historical Judgment
- Modern history discourse has grown intensely moralistic, prioritizing indignation over context.
- Dominic Sandbrook argues tone matters: tell grim truths without acting as a hanging judge.
We Lost A Sense Of The Tragic
- A lost sense of the tragic makes people surprised by recurring human brutality and war.
- Sandbrook says societies geared for war retained humility about human nature that we now lack.
Falklands Memoir Details
- Sandbrook recounts Falklands memoirs where soldiers described cutting off ears as souvenirs.
- He uses this to show wartime savagery is common, not uniquely shocking to history veterans.
