Marc Ferro (1924-) President of the Association of Research at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and co-director of the prestigious French review Annales.

• 1 ‘White history’, a vestige: Johannesburg 2 ‘Decolonized history’: Black Africa 3 Some remarks on a variant: Trinidad and the exorcist reaction 4 India: history without identity 5 The history of Islam or the history of the Arabs 6 The Persian and Turkish variants 7 From Christ the King to the nation-state: history in European eyes 8 Aspects and variations of Soviet history 9 History: the safeguard of national identity in Armenia 10 History in profile: Poland 11 A note on the history of China 12 History in Japan: a code or an ideology? 13 Deconstructing ‘white history’: the USA 14 ‘Forbidden history’: Chicanos and Aborigines 15 Analysis of a crisis: 1939–1945 revisited

'The Use and Abuse of History has the singular effect of bringing into focus a dimension of historical awareness which is much more integral to the understanding of the contemporary world than we might have thought.' - The Times Literary Supplement'Marc Ferro is remarkable in writing history enjoyed both by scholars and by people curious about the world in which they live and its past.' - Natalie Zemon Davis, Author of Return of Martin Guerre'It is ... a very thought provoking analysis of how history is taught in many different countries.' - History Teaching Review