is history bunk????????????

Henry Ford might have said so - but he helped give us the motor car which profligately uses fossil fuel and is damaging the eco-structure. I rather think he would have liked to be remembered for his innovations in mass production - he founded enough memorials to himself. History is simply about remembering what has happened and trying to learn from any past mistakes.

We should understand what has gone before but not in quite the precious manner some would have you believe. If we are to advance the body of knowledge we hold about ourselves we don't want to have to start the sum of our knowledge from scratch all the time. It is interesting to some at least to know why the world is the way it is - but better not to carry a load of baggage around about it.

The idea that not knowing history means you are doomed to repeat it is absurd (as well as being cliched). Historians repeating themselves, now that's a different matter.

I believe knowledge of how people lived and what they did before us is necessary to keep us from repeating the same mistakes they made. When you know better, you do better and when you don't you won't.