Does Anyone Study History Anymore? - Or, Why Studying History is Important ...

Well, the question is supposed to be rhetorical, but sometimes I just want to shake my head when I read articles on supposed shocking finds in history. Within the past couple of weeks, I just read an article online about an archaeological finding. (I realize the article is a couple of weeks old now, but I'm only commenting on it now since I finally have some time to write about it now.) I'm apologizing now, in advance, because my thoughts about this article will probably turn into a rant.

The Geneanet.org blog posted a link to an article about DNA testing on the ancestry of the British peoples. (Well, to be more accurate, the findings really only pertain to those who have English ancestry.) The article, through the examination of DNA, concludes that about 50 percent of English people have Germanic (The article says German, but Germanic would be more correct as I'll explain in a moment.) ancestry, and that the finding was a surprise to the researchers. Shocking? Well, not quite, if one examines a history book on the United Kingdom, he or she would learn about invasions of the British Isles that occurred in the past. In the early Middle Ages, England was invaded by the Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, and these tribes pushed the native Britons into what are now present-day Wales and Cornwall. A couple of centuries after the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons, as the Germanic tribes have become called in textbooks, the Vikings (who also came from Germanic tribes) raided and eventually settled in England and other places in the United Kingdom.

The information I presented in the above paragraph shows that the article's purported findings are not new. Any general history of the United Kingdom would mention the invasions of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings and describe effects of the invasions. The only thing that is remotely new in the article would be the use of DNA testing, and the testing only confirms what is already known. For someone to suggest or claim otherwise would be false.

So, why am I frustrated? Well, if someone is going to claim in an article that a historical discovery has been made, he or she should examine the historical literature first. The author of the article implies that this is a new discovery which is false. An examination of a general history of England or the United Kingdom would have noted the invasions. Sometimes I just wonder in frustration: Does anyone study or care about history?

So, what do you think? As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome.

An Interesting Article On An Archaeological Find In the U. K.

I just happened to notice this article about an archaeological find of Anglo-Saxon items in England. I thought someone might find it interesting. Enjoy!

38th Edition of Carnivalesque Posted!

The 38th edition of Carnivalesque, the Early Modern History carnival, has been posted. You can read it here. The topic for the next edition is on Ancient and Medieval history.

(I realize that I haven't posted on these carnivals before, but since this is a blog on history and genealogy, I thought I would start posting on these carnivals. One of these days I'll get around to submitting an article for one of these history carnivals.)

An Interesting Irish History Book

Although I don't know yet if I have Irish ancestors, I do know that very few stories were passed down into my family. In spite of a lack of family stories, I want to recommend a history book that I am reading. Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe (New York: Nan A. Talese, 1995). (I realize that very few people would be able to trace their genealogy back this far but as a book on background history of Ireland, this book would be a good read.) As the title suggests, this book is on Ireland's history from the late Roman Empire to the Seventh Century. Ireland's Pre-Christian culture is explored as well as Ireland's culture after its conversion to Christianity. And the role that Ireland played in preserving civilization is discussed. So far, I have found this book to be very interesting, but I must add that this book is written for adults. There is some adult subject matter in the book, so I wouldn't recommend this book for children. Other than that, I believe this book makes an interesting read.