The essays are based on the seminar Past and Present held at the Engelsberg Ironworks in Västmanland, Sweden, in 2019.

What history teaches us: writers and theorists on the lessons of the past. How can our understanding of the past help to solve our present political or economic conditions and conflicts? Edited by Swedish author Kurt Almqvist and historian Mattias Hesserus, the essays in this volume range from discussions of the history of ideas and ideologies to evolutionary psychology, as writers configure new ways in which to apply history to today's concerns such as international relations, geopolitics, economics and the role of the individual - as well as human nature at large - throughout history. The essays in this anthology derive from the Engelsberg Seminar held in Vastmanland, Sweden, in 2019. Authors include: Erica Benner, John Bew, Phillip Bobbitt, Vernon Bogdanor, Michael Burleigh, Cory J. Clark, Christopher Coker, Jonathan Fenby, Niall Ferguson, Janne Haaland Matlary, Josef Joffe, Rob Johnson, Elisabeth Kendall, Iain Martin, Rana Mitter, Andrew Monaghan, Fraser Nelson, Gudrun Persson, Peter Ricketts and Brendan Simms