Why history still matters

Sarah Irving-Stonebraker makes a case for history as a key part of understanding who we are and where our lives find meaning.

Sarah Irving-Stonebraker says we are living in an ahistoric age – where we are increasingly ignorant of the past and therefore less equipped to understand ourselves and those around us. In her latest book Priests of History: Stewarding the past in an ahistoric age, Sarah urges her readers to attend to history; to seek to understand the past – it's people and events. She promises that if we do, we’ll find out “that it's far stranger and far more fascinating than you realise.”

In an age underpinned by the idea that life is about self-invention and fulfilment, Sarah believes that paying careful attention to history we will find ourselves more connected,  more embedded in stories larger than ourselves. This is something deeply needed in our rootless and disconnected age.

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Sarah's book: Priests Of History: Stewarding The Past In An Ahistoric Age

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