The Only Lesson That History Can Teach Us, Hindustan Times

I am sometimes asked about the ‘lessons’ that history can teach us. The question presumes that the study of the past can help provide guidance for the present—and future. But is this presumption accurate? Can politicians exercise power more wisely if they are better informed about the past?

The brilliant, maverick, historian A.J.P. Taylor was sceptical that they could. He once said about a certain French Emperor that ‘he was what I often think is a dangerous thing for a statesman to be — a st...