The Historians Who've Had Enough of Woke History - Nigel Biggar and Robert Tombs

Robert Tombs and Nigel Biggar argue for more balanced and comprehensive history teaching in Britain, one that acknowledges both failures and achievements and supports historical understanding, civic attachment, and national cohesion.

TriggernometryViews unavailable74 source6 readPublished 2026-08-30

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Robert Tombs Nigel Biggar British schools nationalism political ideology British Empire Enlightenment abolition of slavery Geopolitics

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The conversation between Robert Tombs and Nigel Biggar centers on the critique of contemporary history education in Britain, arguing that it largely presents a fragmented

The argument is built on several causal links and assumptions

Present History Education: Modern British schools teach history in disconnected pieces, such as the trenches in World War I, slavery, and the Nazis, rather than as a coherent

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The conversation between Robert Tombs and Nigel Biggar centers on the critique of contemporary history education in Britain, arguing that it largely presents a fragmented, ideologically skewed narrative focused on the country’s imperial racism, oppression, and exploitation. This dominant narrative undermines national pride, obscures a coherent understanding of Britain’s complex historical development

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that they they currently fashionable story about Britain's past has been a litany of racism and oppression and exploitation is being fed to kids. Why exploitation is being fed to kids. Why would you believe in the country? Would

The argument is built on several causal links and assumptions

Supporting source excerpt
reason for that, and it's not just getting older. It's something specific getting older. It's something specific happening at the cellular level. That's the idea behind Qualia Senolytic, a science-backed formula built around a

Present History Education: Modern British schools teach history in disconnected pieces, such as the trenches in World War I, slavery, and the Nazis, rather than as a coherent, chronological story.

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uh lots about the Nazis, but but no coherent sense of of the whole story of uh 10 years ago um a young man who came from one of our our best private schools and was thinking about wanting to read history in Oxford.

Ideological Bias: The content fed to students tends to emphasize a narrative of continuous oppression and exploitation by Britain, framed primarily through a lens of racism and colonial guilt.

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Westerners. This might upset that the spirits of the ancestors. that they they currently fashionable story about Britain's past has been a litany of racism and oppression and exploitation is being fed to kids. Why

Political and Social Impact: This narrative weakens national pride and civic engagement, making younger generations less likely to identify with, fight for, or sustain Britain as a political and social entity.

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British presence there was political, it was commercial, and it was military, but was commercial, and it was military, but it wasn't actually a large-scale India having, you know, from the first arriving to Britain running India? How

Historical Complexity: A fuller truth includes both moral failures and liberal, humanitarian achievements, such as abolitionism and recognition of indigenous rights, which are often omitted or downplayed.

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of Britain is is important. And the whole truth moments and episodes of of uh failure and of injustice. Um but it also involves stories of of heroic humanitarian and liberal

Imperative for Revision: Revising history education to present a fuller, more nuanced story is essential not only for intellectual honesty but also for political cohesion and social solidarity, countering divisive ideologies and identity politics.

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to the present. I had a sense of the whole and of how we got to where we are. And there was a there was a it was a whiggish story of of development and and whiggish story of of development and and uh increasing liberal politics, but it

Moral Progress and Empire: The British Empire, while imperfect, reflected an evolving moral consciousness influenced by Christianity and Enlightenment ideals, with genuine efforts at reform and governance, complicating simplistic condemnations.

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exploiting them is is somehow bad or at least something that you should um you should think of in in moral terms. I I doubt if it's before the 18th century. But I think the British Empire in the 19th century, and not only the British,

Protection of "Ancestor Spirits" and Historical Censorship: The claim that some indigenous-related 19th-century documents are being withheld from public view, purportedly to avoid upsetting ancestral spirits, illustrates a novel and controversial rationale for restricting historical inquiry. This challenges the common assumption that historical archives are universally accessible and raises questions about balancing respect for cultural sensitivities against intellectual freedom.

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indigenous cultures which were not to be seen by the prying which were not to be seen by the prying eyes of 21st century Westerners. So here are historical documents which cannot be consulted by historians

History as a Political Tool: The explicit statement that the selective telling of Britain’s history serves deliberate political objectives — undermining patriotism, civic loyalty, and national unity — foregrounds the instrumental use of historiography as a contested terrain in contemporary culture wars.

Supporting source excerpt
latest one on the culture wars is the new new dark age. Um why liberals must win the culture wars and then the the next one with um our island's story um a better story about Britain.

The Historians Who've Had Enough of Woke History - Nigel Biggar and Robert Tombs

Top points

The conversation between Robert Tombs and Nigel Biggar centers on the critique of contemporary history education in Britain, arguing that it largely presents a fragmented

The argument is built on several causal links and assumptions

Present History Education: Modern British schools teach history in disconnected pieces, such as the trenches in World War I, slavery, and the Nazis, rather than as a coherent

Main points

The argument is built on several causal links and assumptions

Present History Education: Modern British schools teach history in disconnected pieces, such as the trenches in World War I, slavery, and the Nazis, rather than as a coherent, chronological story.

Ideological Bias: The content fed to students tends to emphasize a narrative of continuous oppression and exploitation by Britain, framed primarily through a lens of racism and colonial guilt.

Political and Social Impact: This narrative weakens national pride and civic engagement, making younger generations less likely to identify with, fight for, or sustain Britain as a political and social entity.

Historical Complexity: A fuller truth includes both moral failures and liberal, humanitarian achievements, such as abolitionism and recognition of indigenous rights, which are often omitted or downplayed.

Imperative for Revision: Revising history education to present a fuller, more nuanced story is essential not only for intellectual honesty but also for political cohesion and social solidarity, countering divisive ideologies and identity politics.

Moral Progress and Empire: The British Empire, while imperfect, reflected an evolving moral consciousness influenced by Christianity and Enlightenment ideals, with genuine efforts at reform and governance, complicating simplistic condemnations.

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