History is the study of the past; some of the past is more recent than a glance over many schemes of work might lead us to think. Chris Culpin makes the case for ignoring the 20 year rule and tackling head on – and, crucially, historically – the big issues of the very recent past. He shows that critical historical study is precisely what is needed to aid students’ understanding of the news. He provides guidance on where to find the resources to study events so recent that they do not appear in any textbooks. Intriguingly, he also suggests that one measure of historical understanding might be found in asking questions which are not about the past, but the future. Here is the Modern World Study of the Schools History Project GCSE brought right up to date.