Fallen Idols

In 2020, history came tumbling down. But as the past three hundred years have shown, history is not erased when statues are removed. Exploring the rise and fall of twelve famous, yet now controversial statues, Alex von Tunzelmann takes us on a fascinating global historical tour filled with larger than life characters and dramatic stories. Von Tunzelmann reveals that statues are not historical records but political statements and distinguishes between statuary and other forms of sculpture, public art, and memorialization. "In 2020, history came tumbling down. From the US and the UK to Belgium, New Zealand, and Bangladesh, Black Lives Matter protesters defaced, and in some cases, hauled down statues of Confederate icons, slaveholders, and imperialists. General Robert E. Lee, head of the Confederate Army, was covered in graffiti in Richmond, Virginia. Edward Colston, a member of Parliament and slave trader, was knocked off his plinth in Bristol, England, and hurled into the harbor. Statues of Christopher Columbus were toppled in Minnesota, burned and thrown into a lake in Virginia, and beheaded in Massachusetts.

Prize history

• Wolfson History Prize

  2022

  Shortlist

Year-end lists

• The TLS, books of the year 2022