From Thatcher, M. (1993) The Downing Street Years, London, Harper Collins: 595-6.

"Though not an historian myself, I had a very clear- and I had naively imagined uncontroversial- idea of what history was. History is an account of what happened in the past. Learning History, therefore, requires knowledge of events. It is impossible to make sense of such events without absorbing sufficient factual information and without being able to place matters in a clear chronological framework- which means knowing dates. No amount of imaginative sympathy for historical figures or situations can be a substitute for the initially tedious but ultimately rewarding business of memorising what actually happened…..

The "New History"…. with its emphasis on concepts rather than chronology and empathy rather than facts was at the root of so much of what was going wrong……

In July 1989 the History Working Group produced its interim report. I was appalled. It put emphasis on interpretation and enquiry as against content and knowledge. There was insufficient weight given to British History. There was not enough emphasis on history as chronological study……

I considered the document comprehensively flawed and told Ken that there must be major, not just minor changes. In particular I wanted to see a clearly set out chronological framework for the whole history curriculum."

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