Diary – 27 June 2019

I spent the early part of last week in London, filming what are known in the television trade as PTCs (‘pieces to camera’). These will form the connecting tissue for a three-part documentary series loosely based on my most recent book, The Square and the Tower. Ten years ago, I did a lot of this kind of thing. A series of books, beginning with Empire, started life as television scripts, in an effort on my part to bring history to a wider audience. (The effort was quite successful but earned me the disdain of a certain kind of academic prig.) In those days, PTCs were delivered on location, and the more exotic the better — I have an especially stomach-turning memory of dangling from a helicopter over the Victoria Falls. This new series, however, is about networks, not empires, and there’s only so much you can do visually with the blandness of Silicon Valley. Consequently, last week’s PTCs were shot in a stifling studio with an eye-numbing green background, which apparently makes it easier to drop in computer graphics around the presenter. This is not an activity you should ever try with a hangover. As luck would have it, I had attended a lavish dinner the night before at the home of a friend who happens to be a serious oenophile, with the resources to match his tastes. There were six of us around the table, including my old friend and occasional debate opponent Fareed Zakaria, and an equal number of bottles: Bâtard-Montrachet 2013, Montrachet 2005, Maison Leroy Musigny 1996 and 1966, Romanée-Conti 1985 and Château Latour 1961. I have never known a meal to match it.

Last Thursday found me in Scotland, where I gave a lecture at my old school, the Glasgow Academy, in memory of one of the most influential teachers in my life, Ronnie Woods.