Let me introduce myself – my name is Michał Palacz and I am a Polish historian based in Oxford, UK. In the History of Peace blog you will mostly find my reflections on the history of peace and non-violence.

I am actually specialising in the history of medicine and migration during the Second World War but, after years of researching some of the worst aspects of modern war, such as mass displacement of millions of refugees in the 1940s and the abuse of human subjects for biomedical research in Nazi Germany, I have developed a strong desire to focus on a more positive side of history. This increasingly nagging thought finally inspired me to start the History of Peace blog.

Through my blog posts I would like to inspire you to redefine the way we look at our past by focusing on peace rather than war, cooperation rather than competition, coexistence rather than violence and friendship rather than hate.

Occasionally I will also write about other things that I am interested in, ranging from the history and culture of China, through art and literature, to everything about my favourite animals – bears. So paraphrasing Terence, the motto of this blog will be:

Nothing that is human (or ursine) is alien to me!

_{Image: Close up of a 7-month old panda cub in the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan, China. Photo by Sheila Lau (Public Domain).}