Niall Ferguson

John Ferguson, Niall’s paternal grandfather, was one of the lucky ones. He fought in the trenches in the First World War and survived to live out his days to their normal span. His other grandfather, a journalist with literary leanings, spent much of the Second World War fighting in India and Burma. Great-aunt Aggie had emigrated to Canada, while Uncle Ian worked in India, Africa and the Gulf. As for Niall’s father, a Glasgow doctor, he whisked his family off to do good works in Kenya for a couple of years in the 1960s. You don’t have to look far to find out why Niall Ferguson has written so powerfully about war and empire; the subjects are in his blood.