Scandal, it bears repeating, undermines monarchies, but rarely ends them. It may be true that, according to a recent editorial in the New York Times, the British monarchy now exists primarily 'for our amusement'. But as long as people find… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
There are important arguments to be made about the relative merits of an hereditary or an elected head of state: but not at the level of the human frailties of particular monarchs or presidents. No one seriously contends that the… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
Lord Beaverbrook was fundamentally a lonely man, with a low sense of his own self-worth, who was incapable of forming a stable, loving relationship… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
The older I get the more I'm convinced that it's the purpose of politicians and journalists to say the world is very simple, whereas… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
For those who reject it, the Victorian experience is something to feel embarrassed about, to apologise for, to escape from, and never to repeat.… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
Charitable endeavour exalts the prestige and the status of the giver. This may sound unduly cynical but as with all philantrophic activity, it is… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
Prince Charles's concern for the underprivileged and disadvantaged has not exactly endeared him to the Conservative Central Office. As Norman Tebbit replied, it is… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
More attention should have been given to the fundamental transformation which took place during Queen Victoria's reign, from ruling sovereign to constitutional monarch. Again,… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
Kitty Kelley's method, already perfected in her unauthorised and unflattering biographies of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Reagan, is to write bestsellers that take what… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
David Irving has consistenly applied an evidential double standard, demanding absolute documentary proof to convict the Germans (as when he sought to show that… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
For all her active goodness, Florence Nightingale herself was far from being the angelic figure of popular adulation: according to Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
On several occasions, we are informed that the professional ideal 'took steps', 'organised assaults', and 'selected social problems'. But this is anthropomorphic metaphor implausibly… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
Vernon Bogdanor's account The Monarchy and the Constitution is written as much in the shadow of Edmund Burke as it is of Walter Bagehot.… — David Cannadine Copy Share Image
