Every choice and decision I have made has brought me to this exact moment in my life, which is exactly why I want to study history – to analyse the intricate details of the past, as well as the choices made, and the implications they had on our world. Being able to study different interpretations, and to really explore events from different viewpoints in order to make sense of the present is the most appealing concept of history. Studying events, from Julius Caesar’s rule to the Spanish Armada, intrigues me as there are as many versions of history as there are people, suggesting that it is a negotiable concept, because the same facts can yield many different conclusions. Due to this, history is a matter that you can take into your own hands as it only ends once you stop engaging in a constant dialogue with historical interpretations.
After reading George Orwell’s ‘1984’, recommended through a teacher, I was fascinated at the alternate way in which history could have progressed. I realised the value of history, as like Orwell said, ‘who controls the present controls the past’. The notion that we can take from this is that the current politics of power stamps its meaning upon the past, thus the same
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This new angle has allowed me to interpret sources and period pieces with a different perspective, where, to a certain extent, I can identify with the public of the time because it is often that they face the same issues and problems that we do now. Through visiting Auschwitz last year I was able to witness the remains of history first hand, and interpret the Holocaust for myself. It was a chilling experience, allowing me to grasp the enormity of the aftermath it brought along with