yes oldham1 it is important to understand history, but unfortunatly spoon fed history is always written by the winners and a lot of the time some of the pertanent facts are glossed over as they sometimes can be very unflattering. so it is in your own best interest to try and get the point of view from both sides depending on the given topic before forming your oppinion and always keeping your oppinion subject to change, sometimes this can be difficult, but if you are genuinly interested the information is out there. having a well rounded understanding of history goes a long way in developing understanding relationships with your fellow man/women by not having negative preconcieved notions of people, places and things. i suppose there is something to be said for the native indian oral tradition (no history books) from preventing the son from not fighting his grandfather's battles, as time had past and he was only told what his father wanted him to know about matters. grudges and ill will being left behind as life moved forward.