David Starkey

Guildhall of St George, King's Lynn (King's Lynn Festival)

David Starkey needed no introduction. He simply walked on stage at the Guildhall in King's Lynn - “the best place, is it not,” he joked, “to talk about monarchy”.

Swinging back and forth between Tudor England and modern times, he gave a provocative interpretation of history, poking mild fun every now and then at “our friends across the border” or taunting the likes of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for casting themselves as the new kings of our day.

It was an hour of intellectual delight as the doyen of TV history returned to one of his specialist subjects - the English Reformation - to give an insight into the changes that were to veer the country on to a different course from that of her European counterparts.

Responding to a question from the audience, the self-confessed atheist argued that no country is entitled to invade another in a bid to pursue its belief in what he called “moral imperialism”. He said the United States and George Bush were guilty of this, firmly convinced God was on their side.