I'm sure I must have read this before! I was incredibly impressed with the author's ambition, breadth of knowledge and ability to make sense of such a complex subject, but I raised a quizzical eyebrow or two as the tale got closer to contemporary times. At first I thought he was just being overly even-handed or trying to be objective as he put in a good word for Cecil Rhodes or the like, but then when he started to talk about privatisation as a great success, and the academisation of schools improving education, I thought 'hang on a minute'. Turns out he's a bit of a Tory and a regular writer for the Spectator and the Torygraph. Not sure what it means that I'm right with him up until the 18th Century and then our view of english history diverges. He's more likely to be right than me I guess
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