I don’t have any personal memories of the broadcast of ‘Civilisation’. I was born the year afterwards. But the many personal stories I have heard from the people it touched do resonate as I had my own television-induced epiphany. David Olusoga Read Quote
Those of us involved in TV have a habit of using the word ‘landmark’ a bit too readily. I have been involved in a couple of television projects that, while we were making them, felt quite landmark-ish, but that in retrospect were just good TV. David Olusoga Read Quote
There’s always been a snobby dismissal of football and the emotions it elicits in millions of people. David Olusoga Read Quote
My view as a historian is that the empire was an extractive, exploitative, racist and violent institution and that the history of empire is one we need to confront and come to terms with, rather than celebrate. David Olusoga Read Quote
It is true that Britain and its institutions have survived past crises, but often this was because those in charge, at a certain point, snapped out of the stupor of latent optimism, recognised the dangers circling the nation and acted. David Olusoga Read Quote
The old racism of imperialism not only rendered the postwar political elite unable to see black people as full British citizens, it provided them with a whole glossary of stereotypes and preconceptions that they then deployed in order to justify their aim of introducing immigration controls. David Olusoga Read Quote
But Johnson’s Churchill-lite shtick and Theresa May’s even less convincing Iron Lady routine are only even vaguely viable because they tap into a fantasy version of British history that has contaminated visions of our conceivable future. David Olusoga Read Quote
If you want someone to call you a traitor or accuse you of hating Britain, try suggesting that Britain is a normal nation or that our history is remarkable but not exceptional. David Olusoga Read Quote
The most extreme among the Brexiters are convinced they can ride the chaos and deploy the ‘shock doctrine’ to remake the nation in their ideological image. David Olusoga Read Quote
It is of course perfectly possible for a university, or any institution, to carry out a rigorous investigation into the historical origins of its accumulated wealth, while at the same time putting in place systems to address modern inequalities of access and attainment. David Olusoga Read Quote
