Last lecture

29/04/2008 by admin.

Gave the last lecture of my ‘Generals and Generalship’ course at Hull Uni where I’m visiting prof of Military History.  The class took my hints and voted the Duke of Marlborough as the greatest British general of the last 300 years, with the ‘Iron Duke’ a close second.  Slim trailed in third, with honourable mentions for Monty and Cromwell.  About right.

 After the lecture I had to deal with the small matter of essay plagiarism (a growing problem, particularly from web based sources) and then dash for the train to London for my bi-monthly ‘History’ dinner, an increasingly loose term though tonight the guests are mainly historians: Adam Tooze, Ophelia Field, Kate Williams, Bettany Hughes, me and Michael Prodger, lit ed of the Sunday Tel.  Dominic Sandbrook cried off at the last minute, claiming a sudden death in his wife’s extended Irish family.  An excuse so unlikely it has to be true.

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