Yesterday I posted about church crawling in Coventry. This is one of my favourite activities but I also enjoy writing about it as well. As someone interested in history I other think about why we do history and what is the purpose of our talks and presentations.
I think the first and most important role of our work is to empower individuals to understand and find out more about their own historical environments. To be a spring board for people to be empowered to do their own research and improve their understanding.
Second there is a definite role for historians to remember and propagate memory of the past and the people of the past. We need to know the sins and virtues of the past and how these have contributed to the present.
Finally there is a role for historians to be entertaining. We live in an age where entertainment and consumption are king and if history is to compete in this age then it needs to be easily consumable and entertaining to maintain interest. This is not selling out this is facing reality. If people do not find history entertaining then they will neglect it and find something else that is.
Historytalker 