The world we are in today is likely to end catastrophically, as many other human worlds have done before.

I do think that the legacy of the Norman conquest is still strong in Britain. Our hereditary monarchy, our established church, our ancient county structures, though hollowed out in many ways, are a direct result of what happened in 1066.

A man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest. I think that kind of thing is an abuse of history.

I think we take the history we want to take in order to back up the stories we want to hear.

Еhere's no doubt at all that the Norman conquest led to the hugely concentrated land ownership patterns that we still see in Britain today. Some of Britain's biggest landowners are still direct descendants of Norman barons. And given the impact that Britain has had on the world over the past few hundred years, you could perhaps say this was a global issue. History is always with us.

The world we are in today is likely to end catastrophically, as many other human worlds have done before.

"Romanticizing the past" is a familiar accusation, made mostly by people who think it is more grown-up to romanticize the future.