We live in a seemingly iconoclastic age. Statues that were once part of the established fabric of public architecture have come under renewed scrutiny for commemorating what are considered reprehensible and immoral characters and activities from the past.  Many find their place in twenty first-century Britain troubling. The despatch into Bristol harbour of the statue of Bristol’s Edward Colston in the summer of 2020 is perhaps the most notable recent example, but, as Alex von Tunzelman reminds us in her Fallen Idols, statue-toppling is by no means a new sport. Statues ossify a moment, encapsulating what societies value, and yet views can change over time such that the once revered becomes abhorred. No statue is irremovable, even if it’s made of stone...