Edward Gibbon
Conrad Black adheres firmly to the ‘great man’ view of history
The movers and shakers of Volume I of his projected history of the world are Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Hannibal rather than any socio-economic forces
The British Empire’s latest crime – to have ended the Enlightenment
Richard Whatmore sees trade and colonisation in the 19th century as the great threat to Enlightenment ideals, and British imperialism as an unremitting force of darkness
We should build more memorials to controversial people
It is hard to find benign examples of imperialism
Christianity triumphant – and destructive
In the late years of Empire, and early days of Christianity, there were monks who didn’t wash for fear of…
St George: patron saint of England, patronised by all
What did St George do? Killed a dragon, as everyone knows. And yet, as Samantha Riches points out, no mention…
