History Right Now was set up with the aim of making the past relevant to the present. Since the 1970s most historical literature has served the ‘noble’ purpose of ‘rescuing people/things from the condescension of posterity’ (as E.P Thompson put it) however, surely there is even greater value in using the past to ‘rescue’ the present.

R.G. Collingwood justified the case for applied history through the metaphor of a ‘trained woodsman’ and an ‘ignorant traveller’ in a forest. While the traveller may wonder around oblivious to their surroundings and see ‘nothing but trees and grass’ the woodsman will spot what lies ahead and say ‘look, there is a tiger in that grass’.

It is thus that this website will make the case for history as a lens through which to view the present, offering critical historical analysis in the hope of elucidating some of the hidden tigers in the history of right now.