Jeremy Paxman: 'Our empire was an amazing thing'

[Christel]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvan ... thing.html

The history of the British empire is full of amazing stories of adventure, of war, of greed and plunder, cruelty and courage, heroism and low cunning. It explains so much about who we are now, yet we increasingly pretend it never happened.

It’s nothing short of a scandal that this history is not taught in schools. It may be unfashionable to say so, but building, securing and running an empire was the biggest international preoccupation of this country for generations.

The colonial past is not taught in the schools?
If one does not know about the past then one cannot understand the present let alone the future. Simples.
I was taught about the British Empire in the Danish school I attended, what a magnificent empire it was. Shame its own people is not being taught about it.

Maybe note when the program is on and ask if your child/children will watch it with you, that is if it is not rated unsuitable for kids

'Empire’ starts on BBC One on Feb 27 at 9pm

[Chuck]

Nope, all whitewashed to keep "other people" happy, mustn't mention slavery, war or the reasons why it started in case we glorify it or upset out colonisers and new rulers.

[Mr_Logic]

And it's a damn shame. The Empire did a better job with many countries than they manage themselves. <cough>zimbabwe</cough>

[Tower75]

I've been racking my brain, but to be honest, I cannot remember a time when I was taught about the Empire. It might have been mentioned if we were doing a subject that included the Empire, but other then that, I cannot remember anything.

Granted I didn't do A-Level History, but our high-school history seemed to focus on things like, The Tudors, The civil war, the Industrial revolution, WWI and WWII, etc. etc. Nothing about how we grew a global Empire.

I think there might have been something about how we lost it, but not a lot on how and why we needed it.

[Chuck]

You would have needed to gone to school in or before the sixties for that.

[targetman]

The history of the British empire is full of amazing stories of adventure, of war, of greed and plunder, cruelty and courage, heroism and low cunning. It explains so much about who we are now, yet we increasingly pretend it never happened.

It’s nothing short of a scandal that this history is not taught in schools. It may be unfashionable to say so, but building, securing and running an empire was the biggest international preoccupation of this country for generations.

Paxman must be seriously "Off Message" as far as the BBC is concerned......but he is right

[Christel]

'Empire’ starts on BBC One on Feb 27 at 9pm

[phaedra1106]

What? get your children to watch something on TV that's actually showing the past without any political correctness!!!, you'll have Social Services kicking the door in to "protect" them from being un-PC

[Christel]

What? get your children to watch something on TV that's actually showing the past without any political correctness!!!, you'll have Social Services kicking the door in to "protect" them from being un-PC

Are you hereby inferring that Jeremy Paxman is politically incorrect?

:lol:

I do hope he is and I am looking forward to watching the program.

[phaedra1106]

As if!!!

I've set the Sky box for it as my lovely 17yr old daughter has her X-Box permanently attached as a sort of external spare body part and I'm not allowed to use the TV for boring things like watching programmes :G