The often repeated saying that those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them has a lot of truth in it. But what are “the lessons of history”? The very attempt at definition furnishes ground for new conflicts. History is not a recipe book; past events are never replicated in the present in quite the same way. Historical events are infinitely variable and their interpretations are a constantly shifting process. There are no certainties to be found in the past. —Historian Gerda Lerner
