Modern society. it is regularly claimed, is largely ignorant of history. But from family photo albums to days out at historic sites, people connect with the past in a multitude of ways beyond formal education. In The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life, historians Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelan have explored this personal history-making. Laura Cumming discusses their work and its insight into our relationship with the past.
And in a series of end-of-year letters from around the world, writers reflect on another turbulent 12 months in the history of Jerusalem. Producer Anthony Denselow