How would the newspapers have reacted if Osama bin Laden had been killed on the same day as the Royal Wedding? No doubt tragedy would have ensued as 1,000 despairing picture editors hurled themselves into the sea. I’m glad the two events didn’t coincide, not least because the death of the military historian Professor Richard Holmes would have passed unnoticed.
Many will remember Holmes’ clipped speech and solemn manner on television as he strode around the slopes of Waterloo or the Somme, relating past events with a singularly engaging zeal.
But Holmes was more than just a TV historian, a phrase imbued with pejorative overtones. He was a revered academic who lectured on military history at Sandhurst for many years. Generations of now senior officers are said to have sat at his feet enraptured as Holmes spoke. He also held posts at Reading and Cranfield universities at various stages of his career.
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