I recommend that everyone read Dr Huw J Davies’ article on the misuse of history. Many draw false lessons from a superficial understanding of history. But even more pernicious is the intentional distortion of history to serve political or ideological ends.  Davies analyses some of the current abuses of history. He correctly points out that history can be valuable in understanding current events but “[d]eploying poorly understood historical parallels in order to justify or argue for a certain course of action only degrades the value of history.”