Review
'He makes a compelling case that public historians need to grasp the passions and concerns of "popular" history devotees. The popular imagined past is vibrant and here to stay, and public historians ignore it at their own risk.' – National Centre for Public History, 2009 Book Awards
'De Groot’s study ... serves as a manifesto for the re-engagement of scholars with public history. In his examinations of Horrible Histories, pseudo-‘medieval faires’, and Second World War ‘shoot ’em up’computer games, de Groot serves up a truly varied table of food for thought ... Consuming History is both a useful analysis of the contemporary consumption of history, and a provocative argument about the need forprofessional historians to better engage with public history. De Groot’s mastery of the former is clear.' – Twentieth Century British History
'The book's breadth of reference is impressive ... One can object that de Groot is apt to load any activity with historical meaning ... But his approach is consciously provocative, both in its populist content and uses of cultural theory … De Groot notes how TV not only normalises but also reveals the otherness of even the everyday and recent past ... how ideas of post-nostalgia are shifting away from conservative romanticising of the past to something more disorderly; and how consuming history is simultaneously making history.’ – Times Educational Supplement
‘Consuming History is a timely and important book. Taken as a whole, it adds substantially to our understanding of non-academic forms of historical engagement and contemporary culture’s ongoing fascination with the past. For this reason it ought to be compulsory reading for anyone interested in the boundaries between non-academic and academic history, and the relationship of culture to its past.’ – Reviews in History
