This paper analyses school history writing in a specific context: Belarus--a post-totalitarian and authoritarian state. School history teaching has always been a powerful instrument for transmitting national identity and legitimising political structures, and political authorities tend to control it. Perestroika marked the beginning of a new period in Belarusian history writing. New school textbooks were published affirming an independent national Belarusian history. From the mid-1990s, however, a return to a Soviet interpretation of Belarusian history occurred, and school history writing was subjected to strict control by the state.