On the Spot: Eugene Rogan
‘What is the most common misconception about your field? That the Arabs are unusually prone to conspiracy theories to explain political developments.’
Interview
On the Spot: Ali Ansari
‘What is the most common misconception about my field? That it’s a sideshow of a sideshow.’
On the Spot: Courtney J. Campbell
‘What historical topic have I changed my mind on? I used to give the powerful a lot of agency and the oppressed little.’
On the Spot: Levi Roach
‘I used to doubt that the changes undergone in western Europe’s “feudal revolution” were substantial; now, I’m inclined to accept that they were.’
On the Spot: Chris Clark
‘Which moment would I most like to go back to? I would prefer to stay in the present, thank you.’
On the Spot: Penelope J. Corfield
‘In postwar Britain I was prejudiced against Germany. Then I studied German history, met German people and changed my mind.’
On the Spot: Erik Linstrum
‘In the US, people often think of British history as quaint or niche, instead of a central force in the making of global modernity.’
On the Spot: Janina Ramirez
What will future generations judge us most harshly for? Failure to write on vellum.
On the Spot: Peter Carey
What historical topic have I changed my mind on? Colonialism. I now know that it had no redeeming features.
On the Spot: Bettany Hughes
What historical topic have I changed my mind on? I thought the sacrifice of young women in the Bronze Age was a myth. It wasn’t.