May I say that I am pleased to see here a number of our colleagues from China. I have been visiting China since the year 2000 when I went as a member of the Foreign Secretary’s Death Penalty Panel. I have noticed some remarkable changes in attitudes and in openness of discussion on the subject […]

I must start by admitting that this is not the first time that I have given a version of this paper. I gave it about six months ago in a different context, and perhaps it is worth opening up and explaining the context. It was in Lambeth Palace, to an organisation called The Tyndale Society, and […]

1. Introduction The title of this paper has the ‘1960s’ in inverted commas, because I am concerned not with what happened in the decade, but with the ‘60s’ as a concept. I came to be thinking about this subject in the course of writing the last volume of the New Oxford History of England 1951-1990. […]

I: Introduction Peter Sellers, one of my favourite comic actors, starred in a slight but amusing film called Heavens Above! [1963] in which he played a Church of England prison chaplain who is mistakenly appointed to a living in a well-heeled area. He has all sorts of notions of social justice and fairness and attempts to put […]

Introduction In contemporary Europe, perhaps no subject is as controversial as the idea of a European Constitution and the question of whether it should be ratified by the Union’s member states. In one sense, this is nothing new insofar as the precise form, nature, and origins of constitutions has been debated throughout Europe for centuries. […]

Introduction Pilate said to Jesus, “So you are a king?’  Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.  For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.’ Pilate said to him, “What is truth? […]

The end of British rule in Hong Kong could be discussed in terms of the final act in Asian colonial history: the conclusion of China’s experience of foreign invasions and the demise of the last significant possession of the former British Empire. Or the transfer of sovereignty to the Chinese Government might be analysed as […]

I. During the American civil rights movement, a piece of African-American wisdom came into broad circulation in the United States: “You’ve got to walk the walk, not just talk the talk’. Which meant, simply, that public officials must act on their convictions, not just talk about them. It’s a useful reminder that courage in public […]