I need to start by introducing myself. Most of the previous winners of the distinguished Norton Medlicott Medal have been household names, historians who have moved beyond the library shelves to reach wider audiences through the popularity of their books or television programmes. If you looked through the Radio Times to see which blockbuster series this Chris Culpin was presenting, you will not have found me. I’m a schoolteacher. I taught history for 18 years in comprehensive schools, and now I continue to teach through the textbooks I write, the courses I run for students and teachers, the schools’ TV programmes I work on.