The Importance Of History

Have you ever wondered why it is that when we hear that old almost forgotten song, we can remember every single word? Thirty plus years later, the song is as fresh in our minds as when we first heard it. Whether we can hold a tune or not, we sing happily along with it and we remember the words exactly. The six million dollar question is, if we can remember songs so well, why don’t we do the same with history?

When I was at school, learning about the Magna Carta, the Battle of Hastings, Agincourt, Culloden, Bosworth and Bannockburn were the most boring lessons I could imagine. They were unknown battles fought by unknown Kings in unknown places. But I had to remember them because I knew that in a very short time, there would be a test.

Now that we’re older and wiser, we understand that our children can learn a lot by looking closer at the past. As we get older, our perception changes. All of a sudden, these characters are not eccentric anymore and we realize they were real people with real personalities. They fought real battles, they won the love of their women, they made mistakes and they were vulnerable to diseases. Just like us. All of a sudden it becomes exciting. It’s like being a time-detective, hunting through the records and the archaeological artifacts, looking for clues that might help build up a picture of what happened long ago.

Of late, we have become enthralled with the history of the British Monarchy with a type of mystic reverence. Almost like a revelation, we understand that learning history has many important benefits. The way things are now is a consequence of the things that happened in the past. The way things will be tomorrow will be a consequence of the way things are now because at the heart of our present are the stories of the past.

History not only provides us with a nostalgic glimpse of how things used to be, but its lessons can teach us things that are important for life today. History can be the richest of all stories, the saddest of stories and the most shocking of stories. It’s a story of all people, in all places, at all times and because we know of that history, we can decide what may happen in the future. It provides identity and shows us models of responsible behavior, as well as disgraceful behavior. More importantly, we can learn from their mistakes.

History helps us understand how society can change and develop and if we don’t teach our children to connect with history, then the consequences for our society could be disastrous. Considering the greed that caused The War of the Roses, the family misunderstandings that caused the First World War and the desire for power that caused the Second World War, who would want to repeat them?

The big question is, how should we encourage our children to study history? Well, the answer is to simply make it fun. These days, our children’s vision is blinkered to everything around them except the little glowing screen in their hands. Eccentric characters from dusty old textbooks is the last thing on their minds. But the way our children absorb information is undergoing a rapid transformation. Images, video, sound bites, tweets and interactive apps are just some of the ways through which our children learn nowadays. Keeping that in mind, what if the information is delivered in a different manner? We all learn things in different ways and the best way is to engage their minds and imaginations.

From a very young age, children are taught to recognize and appreciate stories, especially at bedtime. A wave of hushed concentration envelops the child as they hear the words ‘Once upon a time’. There are hundreds of titles to choose from. For example, there is King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Although fictitious, this story is full of intrigue, bravery, dashing knights on white horses waving swords and swooning damsels in distress. Then we have Robin Hood with his band of merry men robbing from the rich and giving to the poor while romping though Sherwood Forest in his Lincoln-green long johns. And let’s not forget the incredibly romantic story of Ivanhoe dating back to Richard the Lionheart days. The list is endless and in every one of them, there is a story to grab our children’s imagination. Who knows, soon your children may start reaching for the historical fiction shelf on their own. Never underestimate the power of your child’s imagination.

Growing up in today’s world, our children have already been exposed to different cultures and values. This puts them all on the same platform. It opens their minds to explore ancient civilizations and helps them learn the importance of world cultures. It encourages them to explore the different stages of history, understand the importance of major events and the mistakes that were made. Mistakes that we hope will never be repeated. And isn’t that what we really want? To make our children’s future better than the past?

With my V2V historical series based on the British Monarchy throughout the ages, I’ve taken on board the immortal words of the Rudyard Kipling – ‘If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.’

 

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I am an Australian author, born in Brisbane, Australia now living in Hong Kong. As well as writing my books, I am active in attending schools to talk to children on history and creative writing. I am also one of three mentors of a yearly competition in Hong Kong called the Young Writers Competition, encouraging children to use their imaginations.  

I published my first book 18 years ago, my best-selling autobiography ‘Daughters of Nazareth’, published by Pan MacMillan Australia. The following year, my second book ‘Enough’ was published by Spinifex Press and seven years ago, I began working on a historical series I call my V2V series based on British Monarchy throughout the ages. The first in the series is called ‘Vikings to Virgin – The Hazards of being King.’ The second is ‘Virgin to Victoria – The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen’ and the final in the series, due for release on 28th May is called ‘Victoria to Vikings – The Circle of Blood.’

With the completion of my historical series, I am now working on a screenplay for ‘Daughters of Nazareth.”

Websites: www.vikingstovirgin.com

                  www.trishahughesauthor.com

Twitter: @TrishaHughes_

 

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing