What is history for?

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Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Well, Camden Council for a start, who’ve put a QR code on her statue in Bloomsbury explaining that some of views and actions of the prototype feminist, widely regarded as one of the leading modernist writers of the 20th century, are now considered “offensive” and “unacceptable”. Funny how we look back for drama and moral clarity, not just judging the past by the prejudices of the present, but affecting to see in its messiness either inevitable progress, or relentless decline. More and more, it seems, history is a weapon with which to fight today’s battles. What should history teach us? Witnesses: Professor Ada Palmer Professor Kehinde Andrews Dr Amanda Foreman Professor Robert Tombs Panellists: Anne McElvoy Ash Sarkar Tim Stanley Matthew Taylor Presenter: Michael Buerk Producers: Catherine Murray & Peter Everett Assistant Producer: Ruth Purser Editor: Tim Pemberton