Page 83 - All About History - Issue 53-17

vi
Over six million Jews were killed
during the Holocaust
back and forth? “I think it’s important,” agrees
Lipstadt. “You have to be careful because you don
n
’t
want to shoot your wad, as they say in gambling
— or use all your ammunition — in getting too far
ahead, but I think you’re right. Sometimes as soon n
as the issue comes up, as soon as the mayor of th he
New Orleans begins talking about taking down
those statues let’s be reminded by the historians
who those were statues of. Yes, Robert E Lee was a 5. IS IT TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
Confederate general and was very much respected,
but what was he defending? He was defending th he
Confederacy which was enslaving people. Some
of those statues were of people who didn’t have a
as
much credit as Robert E Lee did, you know?
“We’re in a crisis mode, I would say, not just
because of my country but in your country, the U UK
as well, in many places where
facts are up for grabs. Facts do on’t
count, they’re twisted and whe en
it comes to history historians
can play a very important role e.
They have special credibility,
and they have to use it.”
Denial is out now on DVD from m
EntertainmentOne
e
r
Intervieww
Inte
HOW TO SPOT
BAD HISTORY
None of these are proof of bad history in themselves,
but together they are cause for alarm
1. WHO WROTE IT?
Find the name of the author and see what else they’ve written. If they’re a historian,
you should be able to tell whether they’re credible relatively quickly from their
academic paper trail online. If they’re a journalist or writer, look at what outlets
they’re associated with and what sort of content they have written in the past. Be on
the lookout for anything that suggests they have a clear agenda. If there’s no author
credited, be suspicious.
2. HOW IS IT WRITTEN?
Plenty of popular history uses informal or emotive language (and even historical fiction
can be impeccably researched) so it’s not an automatic cause for alarm, but be mindful
of anachronistic language that betrays a modern agenda, such as reference to modern
countries or concepts, sweeping generalisations or selective empathy where only one
side is allowed emotions or motivations.
3. WHERE IS IT WRITTEN?
What sort of magazine or website is this? Is its primary purpose to entertain or to
educate, or communicate something far more sinister? Much popular history and
historical fiction is impeccably researched so entertainment doesn’t necessarily mean
something is incorrect (we aim to entertain and educate, after all), but it depends on a
the context. Lists of amazing facts are often far more amazing than they are factual.
4. WHAT ARE THE SOURCES?
Are the sources named or linked to? Follow those back and assess how credible they
are and how recent they are. At All About History, History of War and History of
Royals, we insist on source lists from all of our contributors. We don’t publish them in
the magazine, but we’re more than happy to supply them on request.
It probably is. Image accounts and memes often focus on a ‘hook’ at the expense
of research — the real world is seldom so convenient as to fit on a 300x300 jpeg.
Many ‘amazing historical image’ social accounts scrape their content from other viral
accounts, perpetuating falsehood and making it difficult to track the sources.
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