For the Times Diary Nov 28 2015
The Chilcot Inquiry has outlasted one of its panellists, with the death this year of Sir Martin Gilbert, the scholar who produced historical atlases and a biography of Winston Churchill. Giving the eulogy at his memorial service, Gordon Brown said it was lucky Gilbert ignored advice from historian AJP Taylor, who told him: “Don’t waste your time with maps; there is nothing new to learn about Churchill; and unpublished documents can reveal nothing new about the history of the Second World War.” At this rate, they will reveal nothing new about the Iraq war either.