AustLit

Nile argues that: 'In reading history, as with literature, we seek to better understand the motives of those involved. And we accept that, as with our own lives, there are both intended and unintended consequences of our actions.

'To argue otherwise is to reiterate a falsehood of casue and effect in a world divided by goodies and baddies. Life is more wondrous and complex, more powerful and terrifying, but we are better informed because of the good literature and the good histories we read. We do not require counterfactuals to know that this may be so.'