Dangerous Games. The Uses and Abuses of History

Resumen del libro

Acclaimed historian Margaret MacMillan explores here the many ways in which history affects us all. She shows how a deeper engagement with history, both as individuals and in the sphere of public debate, can help us understand ourselves and the world better. But she also warns that history can be misused and lead to misunderstanding. History is used to justify religious movements and political campaigns alike. Dictators may suppress history because it undermines their ideas, agendas, or claims to absolute authority. Nationalists may tell false, one-sided, or misleading stories about the past. Political leaders might mobilize their people by telling lies. It is imperative that we have an understanding of the past and avoid these and other common traps in thinking to which many fall prey. This brilliantly reasoned work, alive with incident and figures both great and infamous, will compel us to examine history anew--and skillfully illuminates why it is important to treat the past with care.

Biografía del autor

Margaret MacMillanes doctora en historia y estudió en las universidades de Toronto y Oxford. Durante veinticinco años impartió clases en la Ryerson University y entre 1995 y 2003 trabajó como redactora del International Journal. En la actualidad es rectora del Trinity College y profesora de Historia en la Universidad de Toronto.París, 1919, una de las obras más premiadas en la historia de su género, obtuvo elDuff Cooper Prize, elSamuel Johnson Prize 2002para obras de no ficción, elPEN Hessel-Titman Prize de Historia, elArthur Ross Book Awardy elGovernor-General" s Prize 2003de no ficción.