History's Best Ever Death
TEDx, February 2015. For this and other videos click here for the official TEDx youtube channel
Dr. Alexander McGregor discusses the political hijacking of History and questions the way we teach the past. How relevant is the Great Man Theory? Might the study of the past actually unite people in a search for peace and sustainability? McGregor puts forward a challenge to see History less a battle between good and evil or an unobstructed march to moderninty but rather as means of speaking for those without a voice.
Recorded at TEDXUWCSEA East's Reinvention, Reinterpretation, Reevaluation conference on the 7th February 2015.
Please note CORRECTION: In the talk, Dr McGregor ascribes Simon Sebag Montefiore's book Titans of History to Niall Ferguson. This was purely by accident, a slip of the tongue under the lights of a live performance. The authorship was secondary to the point being made, which remains valid, but apologies for any confusion or misunderstanding.