History and National Life Author:Peter Mandler It is still too casually assumed that the 'point' of history is to tell us 'who we are' and 'where we come from'. History and National Life, by a historian whose last book The Fall and Rise of the Stately Home was hailed both by historians and general reveiwersas 'superb', 'wonderful', splendid', 'fascinating' and 'enthralling', argues that hi... more »story is less directly 'useful', but also richer than that. This brilliant study concludes with some reflections on current debates about English and British identity, on how much (or how little) history can help us resolve them, and on what deeper purposes history might serve instead.« less