Read More History

Something that is good for everyone, particularly for our side is reading. A good portion of the people on our side are readers. Which is great, however not enough people read history and for a Traditionalist history is very important.

Unlike the other political philosophies we do not wish to destroy the past. We wish to learn from it, because knowledge is important. I cannot stress that enough. Knowledge is power, history is all of recorded human existence and prehistory is human existence before writing. But in that exists a vast pool of experiences.

What can you learn from reading history?

Empathy
Defeat is survivable
Utopia's never work
The good guy doesn't always win
Suffering is a part of human existence
Human nature varies but doesn't change
That there are always more than one side
Even the biggest enemies can be defeated
People are fallible, as are the things that they build
Some problems aren't caused by people but by nature
People are both simple and complex, rational and irrational
War and violence are part of the human condition and not separate from it

So how should you go about reading more history?

I would first suggest going to your local library, some are great some aren't. Once their I would check out the simplest book on the subject, which probably means it's in the children's section. One mistake I see people make is to go for the biggest or most complex book on a subject and give up. To avoid that mistake is easy, go for the simple book. Once read move up in complexity.

I would suggest getting either general overviews of a historical subject or short biographies. Long biographies look great on your shelf but are often quite complex.

Some recommendations to get you started, all general overviews by Professor Geoffrey Blainey:

Short History of the World by Geoffrey Blainey

Short History of the Twentieth Century by Geoffrey Blainey

Shorter History of Australia by Geoffrey Blainey

Professor Blainey is one of Australia's greatest historians, he also had the courage to openly question immigration back in the 1980's and he was of course attacked for his troubles. I'm not suggesting that he is the only author to read, but he is a good start.

Our side needs to read more history, particularly from before the Twentieth Century and even more so from before the French Revolution.

Enjoy!

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