Popular history is a continuation of old and traditional historiography. Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC), known as the father of history, was the first historian known to collect material systematically and critically and arrange it into a historiographic narrative; hoping to preserve the memory of the past by documenting the information of a certain period of time. His historical accounts provide immense information of the ancient past; inspiring other historians to follow in his footsteps.

Thucydides (c.460 – c.395BC) wrote about the Peloponnesian wars fought between Sparta and Athens. His style of writing history was emulated as well and later, the Roman historians Livy (59 BCE-17CE), Tacitus (c. AD 56 – after 117) and Plutarch (c. AD 46 - AD 120) wrote the history of the Roman Empire. Plutarch introduced a style of writing biographical histories of the great people of the Greeks and Romans. His model was imitated by other historians, consequently enriching historiography.

In China, Sima Qian (c.145 or 135 BC–86 BC), a historian of the Han period, wrote a comprehensive history of China. The same tradition existed among Muslim historians who selected extensive topics for writing history. Tabari (839 AD–923 AD), Ibn Khaldun (1332 AD) and Ibn Asir (1233AD) followed his style.

Modern historians in the early period selected general and extensive subjects to write the history of a country or a nation. David Hume (1776) and Macaulay (1859) wrote the history of England from a generic point of view. As the educated classes were eager to learn the historical details of the past, it became customary for European historians to write the general history of their respective countries. When Edward Gibbon (d.1794) published his book, The decline and fall of the Roman Empire, it became popular and widely circulated among them.

From Herodotus to the History Channel, it’s important to know the past in order to understand the present and change the future

The genre of popular history evolved and the scope of history broadened as historians began to research more academic topics. They focused on new resources available to them which brought to light aspects that had been previously ignored.

Historians had a tendency to use complicated, academic language, which could not be easily understood; due to which intensive research work was limited to professional historians. Realising their shortcomings, some historians decided to publish work which was not heavily referenced and where the language was kept simple and comprehensible for common readers. Will Durant’s (d.1981) Story of Civilisation published in 11 volumes is general, popular history which became a great public success. Its language is simple and beautifully narrates events. Following Durant, other imminent and prominent historians also published simpler versions of their works; emphasising on social and cultural aspects of the past and selecting topics that would be of interest to the public; for instance books and articles on food, drinks, dress, perfumes, privacy, flattery, cleanliness, obesity and hence the daily lives of common people appeared on record.

Recently, Irfan Habib, a Marxist Indian historian published the Peoples History of India in several volumes; each volume being short, precise, concise and linguistically simple. The object of the series is to create an understanding of political and social history of India on a popular level.

The publication of popular history creates historical consciousness as people who avidly read these books not only learn from history but are intrigued and entertained as they visit the past. Learning from the past provides a sense of continuity and change in the process of history. It also inspires people to resist injustices and exploitation in order to change the social structure of society. History can be used as an important tool to trace the origin of social problems in society and to explore possibilities for solutions to maintain peace and harmony.

Knowing the importance of popular history, some historians decided to use print and electronic media to propagate their version of history. For example, British historians A.J.P. Taylor (d.1990) and Aenith Clarks appeared on BBC television and delivered lectures on history and civilisation which were lauded by the public. Following them, other historians also used social media to publicise their ideas on history.

The History Channel presents well-researched documentaries on different historical topics spanning Europe, Asia, Africa and America. These documentaries generate an interest in history and as a result of it the discipline of history no more remains academic but has become a popular subject.

Unfortunately, Pakistan lags far behind in writing academic as well as popular history. The gap is being filled by distorted historical novels which are full of misinformation and religious prejudice. Those who read this stuff are infected by intolerance, false pride and religious zeal. A nation that cannot understand its past has little future.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 15th, 2014