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The historian on what we can learn from the study of the past, how different nations view their heritage, and whether capitalism is here to stay
Donald Sassoon is emeritus professor of comparative European history at Queen Mary University of London. His most recent book, The Anxious Triumph: A Global History of Capitalism, 1860-1914, has been longlisted for the 2019 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year. His previous books, including One Hundred Years of Socialism, The Culture of the Europeans and Mona Lisa, Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism have been translated into 15 languages.
When and where were you born?
Cairo in November 1946, but we moved to Paris in 1947 and then to Milan in 1954.
How has this shaped who you are?
In my primary school in Paris we were told that “our” ancestors were the Gauls. Our textbook had a picture of the Gallic leader, Vercingetorix. Defeated by Julius Caesar and taken to Rome, he was paraded through the streets and then executed. We were all full of sympathy and pity for the man in chains dragged behind the chariot of the nasty conqueror. A couple of years later, in 1954, I found myself in a Milan primary school. Reassuringly the multiplication table was the same, but the history textbook did not mention the Gallic hero. I asked the teacher about Vercingetorix. After a moment of hesitation, she said, “Ah, si, Vercingetorige”, adding: “Oh, just one of the many barbarians crushed by the might of Caesar’s legions.” I was impressed: a national hero in France was almost unknown in neighbouring Italy, and the brute who had him in chains was celebrated. That was the best history lesson of my life. Since then I have remained suspicious of national assumptions.
What made you want to become a historian?
I did not want to become a historian. My first degree was in...