When people talk about the "good old days," when was that? What made them good and for whom? I haven't asked those questions out loud when people wax nostalgic, although I am thinking them in my head. Maybe I should start voicing my questions. With respect, of course, but consider yourself forewarned. The following are several quotes by three historians on the problem of substituting nostalgia for an honest evaluation of the past. Nostalgia evokes warm emotions for times gone by. Depending on the data available, the basis of these feelings may or may not be historically accurate. But no matter how you spin it, a false narrative is still false. Even if it makes us feel good. I would also venture to guess that the power of nostalgia is indirectly proportional to our knowledge base. The more we know, the less there is to imagine and less opportunity for ourselves and others to fill in the blanks with what satisfies our emotions. Nostalgia then becomes less of a too...