The Importance of Over-Specialisation

You were in a debate in London, and there was an academic from Churchill College of Cambridge again that day on the panel opposite you. I remember at some point the moderator turned to you and said, Andrew Roberts, why did World War II begin? And you said World War II began because Hitler invaded Poland. You may have forgotten about this, but many years ago, I certainly haven't forgotten about it. But ultimately it is very easy to forget the obvious. It seems to me, doesn't it? There's a lot of hyper-specialisation somewhere in that! Yes, exactly. No, I know. That happens quite a lot in academia. People just showing off how clever they