"The opportunity to discuss so many varied historical topics with both staff, visitors and fellow volunteers and to learn from them, is why I enjoy volunteering at the National Civil War Centre.
I found history incredibly boring at school and couldn’t wait to drop it after O level. The thought of doing the Tudors and Stuarts yet again for A Level made me want to run a mile. Then, when I did my degree, I discovered that there were different ways of looking at history, that it wasn’t just kings and dates, but politics, economics, geography, sociology, archaeology and even garden design. As an adult, I’ve undertaken several online history courses and I hope, developed my appreciation of what the past has to tell us. Its study helps us to sharpen our critical faculties and to understand that it’s possible to interpret a situation from different angles and perspectives. Analysis of the past helps us to interpret the present and knowledge of what came before informs our understanding of contemporary culture and events." - Sally, National Civil War Centre Volunteer