Charles Dickens set his historical novel A Tale of Two Cities (1859) in the French Revolution seventy years before, but it was far from the dead past to him.

Sir Philip Francis told the House of Commons that it must not let ministers manufacture crises as an excuse for grabbing more power.

As a young man, surveyor Thomas Telford was a red-hot political activist who yearned for revolution, but admittedly he had read just one book on the matter.

Edmund Burke explained to the Duke of Bedford that in politics there is very great difference between change and reform.

Nothing seemed likely to stop Napoleon Bonaparte from conquering Europe, but one little fellow slowed him up a bit.

Edmund Burke expressed his frustration at the arrogance of politicians who have no regard for our Constitutional heritage.