Monthly Archives: June 2020

Here’s an ‘imperial statue’ – a little figure I bought at a roadside market in Cape Town a few years ago, carved and painted by an anonymous African, as a representation of his (or her) colonial master. I hope to … Continue reading →

You would think that, as a historian of the British Empire, I would welcome these ‘history wars’ that have just broken out (again). You know, the ‘statue’ thing: whether or not public images of old imperialists, or men (it’s usually … Continue reading →

Of course I’m worried about the coronavirus; both personally – with my ‘underlying condition’ it would almost certainly be curtains for me if I caught it – and also because of its far more serious impact on millions less fortunate … Continue reading →

Britain, being a complex country – and I don’t just mean the English-Scottish-Irish-Welsh-possibly Cornish thing – has many histories. Imperialism is one of them, and the most visible – all the red blotches on those old maps – but is … Continue reading →

What did I tell you? Out comes Boris, using this ‘statue’ nonsense to entirely avoid the main issue raised by the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, and instead to attack what has been the Tories’ favourite target for years, the ‘Loony … Continue reading →

I can hardly contain my anger at these Leftists – or are they Right-wing agents provocateurs? – who are distracting attention away from the serious issues of the present day by directing their anger against statues of past ‘imperialists’ who are … Continue reading →

As a long-established historian of British imperialism – not ‘Establishment’, I hope, and not an ‘imperial historian’, which could imply that I’m an imperialist– I’ve felt nagged over these last few days with the idea that I ought, out of … Continue reading →

This has just gone up on the LRB Blog; a joint effort by Kajsa and me. I thought I might as well share it here. Well, that was a disappointment. For the last couple of weeks, Swedes have been waiting … Continue reading →

I’m a bit of a fan of ‘alternative’ history. There’s nothing wrong with that. All historians need to speculate about ‘what might have happened if’ history had turned out differently, in order to understand why what actually happened did. For me … Continue reading →

There’s one powerful argument in favour of the forcible toppling of the 17th century merchant Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol yesterday: which is that he was a vile slave-trader who did not merit being memorialised in this way. I must … Continue reading →