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.’
Why are you a historian of 19th-century Europe?
I began as a passionate medievalist, so it was a long journey to the 19th century. Once I got there, it wouldn’t let me go.
What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?
That there is always more than one perspective.
Which history book has had the greatest influence on you?
Christopher Bayly’s The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914.
What book in your field should everyone read?
Ruth Harris’ Lourdes: Body and Spirit in the Secular Age.
Which moment would you most like to go back to?
I would prefer to stay in the present, thank you.
Which historian has had the greatest influence on you?
Two historically minded ethnographers: Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Michael Herzfeld.
Which person in history would you most like to have met?
I would rather not meet the people I write about.
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