To the vulgar utilitarian demand, “Yes, all very nice, I’m sure, but what use is it?”, this much (and more) can be said: inter alia, the scrutiny of evidence and the capacity to decide which version of an event seems most credible; analytical knowledge of the nature of power; an understanding of the way in which some societies acquire wealth while others lose it and others again never attain it; a familiarity with the follies and pity of war; the distinctions between just and unjust conflicts; a clear-eyed vision of the trappings and the aura of charisma, the weird magic that turns sovereignty into majesty; the still more peculiar surrender to authority grounded in revelation, be that a sacred book or a constitution invoked as if it too were supernaturally ordained and hence unavailable to contested interpretation.
—
Simon Schama, “My vision for history in schools”, The Guardian, 9 November 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/nov/09/future-history-schools
