Quotable Richard J. Evans

Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.

Great quote for you struggling writers, isn't it? Do you know Richard J. Evans? Allow me to introduce you.

Richard J. Evans, Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge, is someone I admire. As a British historian, his life's work has been writing about Germany. He's refused to remain silent in the face of attempts to whitewash what happened in Germany with the rise of Hitler.

Mr. Evans is the author of many famous books. I heard moans and groans all through school from classmates who hated history. I guess some of them are supporters of the postmodernist theory that the study of history is no longer of value. In Defence of History, is the book Professor Evans wrote to counter this school of thought.

I think more history courses should be required because reading history is like reading about the mistakes of the past. A smart individual looks back on his mistakes and learns from them. Nations are made of individuals. If individuals who know nothing of their history comprise a government, then is a country not destined to repeat mistakes rather than learn from them? Shouldn't the past be a learning experience?

Or is the literary agent from New York I heard speak once correct? In his estimation, Bob and Mary Six Pack were only concerned with television, movies, and their six packs.

A nice cosmopolitan slap in the face to us yokels in Texas from someone who thought the frontier ended at the Alleghenies? True. But was he right?

I hope not.