Kurt Almqvist

This book contains edited texts from a seminar held in Sweden in 2019 on the theme of “applied history”: it purports to offer a collection of lessons from the past, around current themes. As with any anthology, the level is very variable, sometimes rather theoretical-philosophical, sometimes banal journalistic. What also strikes me is that the ideological inspiration comes from very different angles: sometimes explicitly right-wing conservative (Nial Ferguson's essay, for example, is very pamphleteer), sometimes more left-wing (with warnings against nationalism and populism). And because it is so closely related to current events, its relevance also quickly becomes outdated. In my History account on Goodreads I go into the theme of 'learning lessons from history' in more detail: see https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5958011183.… (altro)