Sir, – Manchán Magan’s critique of history (Arts Books, June 9th) is curiously contradictory in its reliance on historical data and references to construct what is essentially a manifesto for ahistoricism.
How, for example, could he make the point that “Only in the past 150 years have humans shown dependable signs of being able to live in a somewhat enlightened capacity, in which the majority are not enslaved by oppressive systems or straitjacketed by narrow cultural confines” were it not for the work of countless historians over many centuries? – Yours, etc,