The historical profession is nowhere famous for its tolerance, but there are not many countries where historians can expect to pay for their opinions with penal servitude or the firing squad.
Norman DaviesRead
Our mental maps are distorted by who are the 'winners' of history and who are the powers of today.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our perception of history is influenced by those who have succeeded and hold power today.
Norman Davies highlights the idea that our understanding of history is shaped by the narratives of those deemed 'winners.' This suggests that power dynamics influence which stories are told and remembered, leading to potential distortions in how we perceive past events and their significance in shaping the present. It encourages us to question the dominant narratives and to recognize the voices and perspectives that may be overlooked or suppressed.
Themes
HistoryNarrativePerspectivePowerTruth
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about social justice, this quote can remind participants to consider whose stories are told and whose are marginalized.
More from Norman Davies
All quotes →Transience is one of the fundamental characteristics both of the human condition and of the political order.
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Nowadays, it is no longer possible to maintain that the Nazi-Soviet pact of 23 August 1939 was a fiction invented by bourgeois-imperialist enemies. Everyone has seen the film clips of Herr Ribbentrop landing in Moscow, and of Stalin smiling broadly as Ribbentrop and Molotov signed up side by side.
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Why are some things remembered and others forgotten? That is the theme I want to pursue about the Second World War.
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One might have thought that 70 years was time enough to work out what really happened in 1939. It isn't the case. Misunderstandings and misinformation abound.
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I wanted to produce a book that would demonstrate not only the rich diversity of people who answered to Anders's command but also the extraordinary variety of their experiences and emotions: from death to despair, fear and longings and eventually to hope.
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