On the Spot: David Olusoga

Why are you a historian?
My mission is to make history accessible and tell stories of the past across every medium. In genre terms, I am a historian of empire. 

What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?
That the people of the past are, in their intellect and nature, exactly the same as us. 

Which history book has had the greatest influence on you?
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt.  

What book in your field should everyone read?
The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes. Now a little dated and the work of an art historian, but it remains nevertheless one of the most vividly written histories. 

Which moment would you most like to go back to?
I’d love to have seen Paris during the first weeks of the Revolution. When what ruled was optimism not terror.

Which historian has had the greatest influence on you?
Hannah Arendt. She’s not a historian, although her writing on political theory was steeped in historical analysis.