– They're about the only bits of history that I can remember. To tell the truth, I couldn't tell you a great deal about Waterloo. And if Magna Carta didn't involve Robin Hood I may have got the wrong end of the stick about that, too.
– But these are the events that have shaped our modern society: on the one hand, establishing the foundations of democracy and the rights of the common man, and, on the other, preventing Europe being overrun by the French. It is difficult to say which was the more important.
– I was never very good at history at school.
– Clearly.
– I think it is because it is so full of facts: names, dates, battles, treaties, and the like. Whereas I wonder whether my intellect is more attuned towards comprehending abstract ideas and generalised concepts.
– Such as?
– Well, lots of things. Just as long as they don't involve dates or battles.
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