Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium
In 1900, where Churchill ended the fourth volume of his
History of the English-Speaking Peoples, the United States
had not yet emerged onto the world scene as a great power.
Meanwhile, the British Empire was in decline but did not yet know
it. Any number of other powers might have won primacy in the 20th
Century and beyond, including Germany, Russia, possibly even
France. Yet the coming century was to belong to the
English-speaking peoples, who successively and successfully fought
the Kaiser's Germany, Axis aggression and Soviet Communism, and who
are now struggling against Islamic fundamentalist terrorism.
British historian and biographer Andrew Roberts examines what
made the English-speaking people the preeminent political culture
since 1900, and how they have defended their primacy from the many
assaults upon them. What connects those countries where the
majority of the population speaks English as a first language - the
United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the
West Indies and Ireland - is far greater than what separates them.
The development of their history since 1900 has been a phenomenal
success story. It is an especially valuable story to understand as
the United States today looks to other parts of the
English-speaking world as its best, closest and most dependable
allies.