Interview

‘What is the most common misconception about my field? That China has “5,000 years” of continuous history.’

‘What historical topic have I changed my mind on? The British in India, who I once looked upon as a benign force.’

‘What is the most common misconception about my field? That the republic was an absolute failure and the Restoration inevitable.’

‘What is the most common misconception about my field? That scholars who study elite white men are more objective.’

‘The most important lesson history has taught me? Destroy your drafts and personal papers, because one day a graduate student will comb through them looking for incriminating titbits.’

‘One historical mystery I’d like to solve? Was there a written Führer Order for the “Final Solution”? Unlikely, but I’d like to know.’

‘The most common misconception about my field? That the Arabs are unusually prone to conspiracy theories to explain political developments.’

‘What historical topic have I changed my mind on? I used to give the powerful a lot of agency and the oppressed little.’

‘I used to doubt that the changes undergone in western Europe’s “feudal revolution” were substantial; now, I’m inclined to accept that they were.’