David Reynolds, writer and BBC radio presenter, gave a fascinating preview of his book, America, Empire of Liberty: A New History
The concept of the book, which looks at how the antiempire of 1776 became the world's greatest superpower, its prosperity founded on slave labour and dispossession of Native Americans, came to him after being invited by the BBC to present a series of 90 programmes on American history on Radio 4.
His descriptive and carefully selected vignettes of the American Civil War were particularly gripping and moving.
David Reynolds has the luxury of being an outsider, viewing the current world superpower and if his presentation was anything to go by, the book is well worth a read.