Mery Toger: What do you think, mery, about the abiding image of george thethird? Ecause had he been, obviously, as andrewis suggesting, a better person, would he have been able to be projected? Would that have been a better projection. Predictably, i canno see it through a classical lense. There is a meeting here, because it's not just that you get george in somerset house, you now all dressed up in a statue,. rather sillily, actually. But i was drawn in reading andrew's book, to think about on what what makes people's reputation and so he loved his waan is
What does the face of power look like? It’s a question the academic Mary Beard explores in her latest book, Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern. She tells Kirsty Wark how the depiction of Roman autocrats have influenced art, culture and the presentation of power for more than two thousand years.
King George III was condemned in the 18th century as ‘the cruellest tyrant of his age’ and depicted as a diminutive and pompous figure in the 21st century musical, Hamilton. These are images the historian Andrew Roberts seeks to counter in his new biography of the King. His revisionist account argues that far from being a tyrant or incompetent he was one of the country’s most admirable monarchs.
Modern political leaders are no strangers to the importance of public image. As the Conservative government holds its party political conference in Manchester the political commentator and sometime-stand-up comedian Ayesha Hazarika looks at how leaders of different parties have tried to stage manage their hold on power.
Producer: Katy Hickman