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The War Against the Past: Why The West Must Fight For Its History
A war is being waged against the Past. Whether it’s toppling statues, decolonising the curriculum or erasing terms from our vocabulary, a cultural crusade is underway designed to render the past toxic. It is condemned as enemy territory and has become the target of venomous hate. What is at stake in provoking such a strong sense of societal shame towards Western history?
In this book, Frank Furedi mounts a fierce defence of the past and calls for a fight back against the delegitimization of its ideals and accomplishments. Casting the past as a story of shame has become a taken-for granted outlook permeating the educational and cultural life of western society from the top down. Its advocates may see it as a cultural imperative, but a society that loses touch with its past will face a permanent crisis of identity. Squandering the wisdom provided by our historical inheritance means betraying humanity’s positive achievements. Challenging this great betrayal, Furedi argues, is one of the most important battles of our time.
In this book, Frank Furedi mounts a fierce defence of the past and calls for a fight back against the delegitimization of its ideals and accomplishments. Casting the past as a story of shame has become a taken-for granted outlook permeating the educational and cultural life of western society from the top down. Its advocates may see it as a cultural imperative, but a society that loses touch with its past will face a permanent crisis of identity. Squandering the wisdom provided by our historical inheritance means betraying humanity’s positive achievements. Challenging this great betrayal, Furedi argues, is one of the most important battles of our time.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published November 4, 2024
16 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Frank Furedi
69 books92 followersFrank Furedi is a professor of sociology at the University of Kent, UK.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 28, 2025
This is a good book. Basically about how an ideology of presentism has overtaken the academy and its institutions to makes us dangerously ignorant and condemning of the past. Some mistakes in this work though which was sloppy. For instance it labelled the protest at the Pimlico Academy school as happening in 2001, when it happened in 2021.
Alas, I feel he should of brought more of the Judeo-Christian argument to bare, but he relied heavily on the ancients, which is ok, but I am of the belief that Greece and Rome, did not influence the modern West as much as scholars think. However, it depends on what we are discussing about the Ancient world I suppose. Good book though
Alas, I feel he should of brought more of the Judeo-Christian argument to bare, but he relied heavily on the ancients, which is ok, but I am of the belief that Greece and Rome, did not influence the modern West as much as scholars think. However, it depends on what we are discussing about the Ancient world I suppose. Good book though
March 31, 2025
The War Against the Past is an argument against current efforts to distort, reject or revise history. Furedi argues against applying the moral standards of the present to past figures and events, stating that we must learn from these rather than shame, decontextualize or downplay their significance.
These arguments are both sensible and refreshing, but the text cracks under its own weight. The prose is often turgid, long-winded and repetitive. Every other paragraph repeats the message of "The West is best, "save the minds of the children" or " identity politics is bad" in different word orders. A more effective editor or revamping the title as an essay would have more efficiently conveyed Furedi's message.
These arguments are both sensible and refreshing, but the text cracks under its own weight. The prose is often turgid, long-winded and repetitive. Every other paragraph repeats the message of "The West is best, "save the minds of the children" or " identity politics is bad" in different word orders. A more effective editor or revamping the title as an essay would have more efficiently conveyed Furedi's message.
January 12, 2025
A very relevant book.
The knowledge of history is essential to our society, it is the material that brings us together.
The western world and its origins, from ancient Greece, through Christianism, renaissance and the age of enlightenment made us what we are today.
We must fight against the radical left that is trying to destroy a world with cultural roots that allow us to live together with different ideas and tries to impose sectarian ideas that put us in ghettos and conffontation.
Lets not forget Churchill who said “a nation that forgets its past has no future”.
The knowledge of history is essential to our society, it is the material that brings us together.
The western world and its origins, from ancient Greece, through Christianism, renaissance and the age of enlightenment made us what we are today.
We must fight against the radical left that is trying to destroy a world with cultural roots that allow us to live together with different ideas and tries to impose sectarian ideas that put us in ghettos and conffontation.
Lets not forget Churchill who said “a nation that forgets its past has no future”.
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September 26, 2024December 10, 2024
Attended the Battle of Ideas which inspired me to read this book. At times I struggled with the logic of some of his arguments and his presentation but the fundamental issues of the dangers of abandoning what has gone before, the creation of a Year Zero and the inherent false superiority of presentist thought were important. The chapter on how language is being changed to adapt to current thinking and altering culture in the process to erase the past are important warnings to us all.
June 26, 2025
Great book for those who want to gain more knowledge about the history of cancelculture. It provides numerous examples of which one probably never heard of. However, with that many examples and sources it tends to skip from one subject to another, making it less enjoyable to read in one go.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews