Our philosophy
History & Policy is the only project in the UK providing direct access to an international network of expert, independent historians.
We believe that:
- Too often policy reflects unexamined historical assumptions and clichés
- History is incorrectly assumed to be less relevant to current policy than the social and natural sciences
- At best, policy without history fails to learn past lessons and, at worst, repeats past mistakes
- Given the opportunity, historians can shed light on the causes of current problems and even suggest innovative solutions
- Historians often have important contributions to make, but need to acquire new information and skills to engage with policymakers
- There is a reluctance among many policymakers to 'let historians in', which needs to be addressed
The History & Policy website has been providing policy-relevant history since 2002. The site was set up by Cambridge historians Alastair Reid and Simon Szreter as a forum for historians to discuss the policy implications of their research and make it accessible to non-academic audiences.
History & Policy has had a full-time external relations office, based in the Centre for Contemporary British History, at King's College London. This was made possible with charitable funding. For full details of how we are funded and how you can support our work, see our funding.