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I disagree. It’s one modest paragraph in the context of a page which gives extensive coverage to Ferguson’s writings, all of which is properly sourced. |
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'''Sir Niall Campbell Ferguson''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=small|HonFRSE}} ({{IPAc-en|n|i:|l}} {{respell|NEEL}}; born 18 April 1964)<ref name=FergBio>[http://www.niallferguson.com/site/FERG/Templates/General2.aspx?pageid=5 Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720022717/http://www.niallferguson.com/site/FERG/Templates/General2.aspx?pageid=5 |date=20 July 2018 }} Niall Ferguson</ref> is a British-American
Ferguson writes and lectures on [[World history (field)|international history]], [[economic history]], financial history, and the history of the [[British Empire]] and [[American imperialism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://history.fas.harvard.edu/people/niall-ferguson |title=Harvard University History Department — Faculty: Niall Ferguson |publisher=History.fas.harvard.edu |access-date=15 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011044911/http://history.fas.harvard.edu/people/niall-ferguson |archive-date=11 October 2014 }}</ref> He holds positive views concerning the
Ferguson has been a contributing editor for [[Bloomberg Television]] and a columnist for ''[[Newsweek]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Matthews |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Matthews |date=3 May 2016 |title=Conservative Historian Niall Ferguson Blasts Trump Foreign Policy |url=https://fortune.com/2016/05/03/niall-ferguson-trump/ |access-date=18 June 2024 |website=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] }}</ref> He began writing a semi-monthly [[Column (periodical)|column]] for ''[[Bloomberg Opinion]]'' in June 2020 and has also been a regular columnist at ''[[The Spectator]]'' and the ''[[Daily Mail]].''<ref>{{cite web |date=29 February 2024 |title=Niall Ferguson, Author at The Spectator |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/writer/niall-ferguson/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329112651/https://www.spectator.co.uk/writer/niall-ferguson/ |archive-date=29 March 2024 |access-date=18 June 2024 |website=[[The Spectator]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ferguson joins Bloomberg Opinion as a columnist |url=https://talkingbiznews.com/they-talk-biz-news/ferguson-joins-bloomberg-opinion-as-a-columnist/ | last=Roush |first=Chris | authorlink=Chris Roush | work=[[Talking Biz News]] |date=28 May 2020}}</ref> In 2021, he became a joint-founder of the new
==Early life and education==
Ferguson was born in [[Glasgow]], Scotland, on 18 April 1964 to James Campbell Ferguson, a doctor, and Molly Archibald Hamilton, a physics teacher.<ref name="Smith">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/jun/18/academicexperts.highereducation |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |first=David |last=Smith |title=Niall Ferguson: The empire rebuilder |date=18 June 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.14007|title=Ferguson, Prof. Niall Campbell, (born 18 April 1964), Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, since 2016 (Adjunct Senior Fellow, 2003–16)|journal=[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who]]|year=2007}}</ref> Ferguson grew up in the [[Ibrox, Glasgow|Ibrox]] area of Glasgow in a home close to the [[Ibrox Park]] football stadium.<ref>{{cite news |last=Templeton |first=Tom |date=18 January 2009 |title=This much I know |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/18/niall-ferguson-historian-interview |access-date=18 June 2024 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref name="highprofiles.info">{{cite web|url=https://highprofiles.info/interview/niall-ferguson/|title=In-depth interview with Niall Ferguson|website=High Profiles}}</ref> He attended [[The Glasgow Academy]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://harvardmagazine.com/2007/05/the-global-empire-of-nia.html |title=The Global Empire of Niall Ferguson |last=Tassel |first=Janet |year=2007 |work=[[Harvard Magazine]] |access-date=17 June 2012}}</ref> He was brought up as an [[atheist]], although he has encouraged his children to study religion and attends church occasionally.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bigthink.com/ideas/3896 |title=Niall Ferguson on Belief |last=Ferguson |first=Niall |date=4 January 2008 |publisher=[[Big Think]] |quote=Recorded on: October 31, 2007 |access-date=17 June 2012}}</ref> In a 2023 interview with [[Jordan Peterson]], Ferguson declared: "I'm a lapsed atheist ... I go to church every Sunday, precisely because having been brought up as an atheist, I came to realise in my career as a historian that not only is atheism a disastrous basis for a society ... but also because I don't think it can be a basis for individual ethical decision making."<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZn55uYytd0 |title=A Psychologist and Historian Discuss the End of the World {{!}} Dr. Niall Ferguson {{!}} EP 404 |date=11 December 2023 |last1=Peterson |first1=Jordan |last2=Ferguson|first2=Niall|access-date=8 January 2024 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
Ferguson cites his father as instilling in him a strong sense of self-discipline and of the moral value of work, while his mother encouraged his creative side.<ref name=Duncan>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/19/niall-ferguson-my-family-values |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|first=Alistair |last=Duncan |title=Niall Ferguson: My family values |date=19 March 2011}}</ref> His maternal grandfather, a journalist, encouraged him to write.<ref name=Duncan /> He has described his parents as "both very much products of the [[Scottish Enlightenment]]".<ref name="highprofiles.info"/> Ferguson ascribes his decision to read history at university instead of English literature to two main factors: [[Leo Tolstoy]]'s reflections on history at the end of ''[[War and Peace]]'', which he read as a schoolboy,<ref>{{cite
===Oxford===
Ferguson received a [[demyship]] (highest scholarship) from [[Magdalen College, Oxford]].<ref name="Niall Ferguson, Senior Fellow" /> While a student there, he wrote a 90-minute student film ''The Labours of Hercules Sprote'', played double bass in a jazz band "Night in Tunisia", edited the student magazine ''Tributary'', and befriended [[Andrew Sullivan]], who shared his interest in [[right-wing politics]] and [[punk music]].<ref name=RobertBoynton>Robert Boynton [http://www.robertboynton.com/articleDisplay.php?article_id=50 "Thinking the Unthinkable: A profile of Niall Ferguson"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215174854/http://www.robertboynton.com/articleDisplay.php?article_id=50 |date=15 December 2018 }}, ''[[The New Yorker]]'', 12 April 1999.</ref> He had become a [[Thatcherite]] by 1982. In 1985, he graduated with a [[first-class honours]] degree in [[history]] and was awarded an [[Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin)|MA]] from Oxford.<ref>{{cite news |title=About Niall Ferguson |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/ascentofmoney/about/about-niall-ferguson/12/ |access-date=11 December 2024 |publisher=PBS |date=7 January 2009}}</ref> Ferguson studied as a Hanseatic Scholar at the [[University of Hamburg]] from 1986 until 1988. He received his [[Doctor of Philosophy|DPhil]] degree from the [[University of Oxford]] in 1989. His dissertation was titled "Business and Politics in the German Inflation: Hamburg 1914–1924".<ref>{{cite book |title=Dissertation Abstracts International: The Humanities and Social sciences |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LatXAAAAMAAJ |year=1993 |volume=53 |publisher=University Microfilms |page=3318}}</ref>
==Career==
===Academic career===
In 1989, Ferguson worked as a research fellow at [[Christ's College, Cambridge]]. From 1990 to 1992 he was an official fellow and lecturer at [[Peterhouse, Cambridge]]. He then became a fellow and tutor in modern history at [[Jesus College, Oxford]], where in 2000 he was named a professor of political and financial history. In 2002 Ferguson became the John Herzog Professor in Financial History at [[New York University Stern School of Business]], and in 2004 he became the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at [[Harvard University]] and William Ziegler Professor of Business Administration at [[Harvard Business School]]. From 2010 to 2011, Ferguson held the Philippe Roman Chair in history and international affairs at the [[London School of Economics]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/newsArchive/archives/2009/ferguson.aspx |date=25 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328211242/http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/newsArchive/archives/2009/ferguson.aspx |archive-date=28 March 2010 |title=LSE IDEAS appoints Professor Niall Ferguson to chair in international history |publisher=[[London School of Economics]] |quote=Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs, for 2010–2011 |access-date=17 June 2012}}</ref> In 2016 Ferguson left Harvard<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/10/8/ferguson-jumps-to-stanford/|title=Historian Niall Ferguson Will Leave Harvard for Stanford|last1=Bernhard|first1=Meg P.|last2=Klein|first2=Mariel A.|date=8 October 2015|website=The Harvard Crimson}}</ref> to become a senior fellow at the [[Hoover Institution]], where he had been an adjunct fellow since 2005. In 2021 he joined [[Bari Weiss]], the Shakespeare scholar [[Pano Kanelos]] and the entrepreneur [[Joe Lonsdale]] to found the [
Ferguson has received honorary degrees from the [[University of Buckingham]], [[Macquarie University]] (Australia) and [[Adolfo Ibáñez University]] (Chile). In May 2010, [[Michael Gove]], [[Secretary of State for Education|education secretary]], asked Ferguson to advise on the development of a new history syllabus, to be titled "history as a connected narrative", for schools in England and Wales.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news |title=Niall Ferguson: 'Westerners don't understand how vulnerable freedom is' |first=William |last=Skidelsky |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/20/niall-ferguson-interview-civilization |newspaper=[[The Observer]]|date=20 February 2011 |access-date=24 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="CH2010">{{cite news |title=Empire strikes back: rightwing historian to get curriculum role |last=Higgins |first=Charlotte|author-link=Charlotte Higgins|date=31 May 2010|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/may/30/niall-ferguson-school-curriculum-role|access-date=31 May 2010}}</ref> In June 2011, he joined other academics to set up the [[New College of the Humanities]], a private college in London.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aaa064e2-8f6f-11e0-954d-00144feab49a.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aaa064e2-8f6f-11e0-954d-00144feab49a.html |archive-date=11 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Star professors set up humanities college |last=Cook |first=Chris |date=5 June 2011 |work=[[Financial Times]] |access-date=17 June 2012}}{{Registration required|reason=free registration and cookies needed to view}}</ref> In the same year, emails were released to the public and university administrators which documented Ferguson's attempts to discredit a progressive activist student at [[Stanford University]] who had been critical of Ferguson's choices of speakers invited to the Cardinal Conversations free speech initiative.<ref name="Stanforddaily" /> He teamed with a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] student group to find information that might discredit the student. Ferguson resigned from leadership of the program once university administrators became aware of his actions.<ref name="Stanforddaily">{{cite news|last1=Contreras|first1=Brian|last2=Douglas|first2=Courtney|last3=Statler|first3=Ada|title=Leaked emails show Hoover academic conspiring with College Republicans to conduct "opposition research" on student|url=https://www.stanforddaily.com/2018/05/31/emails-between-ferguson-scr-reveal-opposition-research-against-ocon-prompt-fergusons-resignation-from-cardinal-conversations-leadership-role/|access-date=1 June 2018|work=The Stanford Daily|date=31 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/minutes/148653/niall-ferguson-wanted-opposition-research-student|title=Niall Ferguson wanted opposition research on a student.|magazine=The New Republic|access-date=1 June 2018}}</ref>
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Ferguson responded in his column saying, "Re-reading my emails now, I am struck by their juvenile, jocular tone. 'A famous victory', I wrote the morning after the Murray event. 'Now we turn to the more subtle game of grinding them down on the committee. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.' Then I added: 'Some opposition research on Mr O might also be worthwhile'—a reference to the leader of the protests. None of this happened. The meetings of the student committee were repeatedly postponed. No one ever did any digging on 'Mr O'. The spring vacation arrived. The only thing that came of the emails was that their circulation led to my stepping down."<ref>{{cite news |last=Ferguson |first=Niall |date=3 June 2018 |title=A hard lesson on student politics learnt |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ouch-a-hard-lesson-on-student-politics-learnt-6t0wx9h38 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |access-date=1 July 2019 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
===Business
In 2000, Ferguson was a founding director of Boxmind,<ref>{{cite news|first=Stuart|last=Millar |title=Star thinkers in 'e-learning' launch |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2001/mar/05/education.highereducation |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=5 March 2001 |access-date=5 March 2001}}</ref> an Oxford-based educational technology company. In 2006, he set up Chimerica Media Ltd.,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chimericamedia.com/|title=Chimerica Media|website=www.chimericamedia.com}}</ref> a London-based television production company. In 2007, Ferguson was appointed as an investment management consultant by [[GLG Partners]], to advise on geopolitical risk as well as current structural issues in economic behaviour relating to investment decisions.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/09/30/niall-ferguson-glg-face-markets-cx_ll_0927autofacescan02.html |title=Meet The Hedge Fund Historian |work=Forbes.com |access-date=20 December 2008 |date=30 September 2007 |first=Lionel |last=Laurent}}</ref> GLG is a UK-based [[hedge fund]] management firm headed by [[Noam Gottesman]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.glgpartners.com/about_glg/company_description |title=GLG Company Description |access-date=20 December 2008}}{{Dead link|date=May 2012}}</ref>
===
Ferguson was an advisor to the [[John McCain 2008 presidential campaign]] and supported the [[Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign]].<ref>[http://www.aei.org/publication/niall-ferguson-newsweek-and-obama-fact-checking-the-fact-checkers-part-i/ "Niall Ferguson, Newsweek, and Obama: Fact checking the fact checkers (Part I)"], ''Newsweek'', 21 August 2012.</ref><ref>[http://theweek.com/article/index/232260/newsweeks-anti-obama-cover-story-has-the-magazine-lost-all-credibility "Newsweek's anti-Obama cover story: Has the magazine lost all credibility?"] ''The Week'', 21 August 2012.</ref>
===Commentary, documentaries and broadcasting===
[[File:Niall Ferguson addresses delegates at the ARC Forum, 30 October 2023.jpg|thumb|Ferguson addresses the [[Alliance for Responsible Citizenship]], London, 2023]]
Ferguson has written regularly for British newspapers and magazines since the mid 1980s. At that time, he was lead writer for ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' and a regular book reviewer for ''[[Daily Mail|The Daily Mail]]''. In the summer of 1989, while travelling in [[Berlin]], he wrote an article for a British newspaper with the provisional headline "The [[Berlin Wall]] is Crumbling", but it was not published.<ref>{{cite AV media | work=Talkingpolitics2013 |title=Niall Ferguson on importance of civil institutions and more, at Norwegian Nobel Institute |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RB7Ah95RM4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/8RB7Ah95RM4 |archive-date=22 December 2021 |url-status=live|date=28 June 2013 | via=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the early 2000s he wrote a weekly column for ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' and ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ferguson |first1=Niall |title=Los Angeles Times Author's Page |url=https://www.latimes.com/lanews-niall-ferguson-20130507-staff.html |work=Los Angeles Times}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> leaving in 2007 to become a [[contributing editor]] to the ''[[Financial Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/oct/23/pressandpublishing.financialtimes |title=Niall Ferguson joins FT |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=23 October 2007|first=Chris |last=Tryhorn |access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref><ref name="nfbio">{{cite web|url=http://www.niallferguson.org/bio.html |title=Niall Ferguson: Biography |access-date=14 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705031813/http://www.niallferguson.org/bio.html |archive-date=5 July 2008 }}</ref> Between 2008 and 2012, he wrote regularly for ''[[Newsweek]]''.<ref name="guardian" />
Since 2015, Ferguson has written a weekly column for ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' and ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', which also appears in numerous papers around the world. Ferguson's television series, ''The Ascent of Money'',<ref>{{cite web |title=The Ascent of Money |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/ascentofmoney/ |website=PBS.org |publisher=PBS}}</ref> won the 2009 International Emmy award for Best Documentary.<ref name="IntEmmy">{{cite news |date=3 December 2009 |title=Niall Ferguson wins International Emmy for 'The Ascent of Money' |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/12/niall-ferguson-wins-international-emmy-for-the-ascent-of-money/ |access-date=3 December 2009 |work=[[The Harvard Gazette]] |publisher=}}</ref> In 2011, his film company Chimerica Media released its first feature-length documentary, ''Kissinger'', which won the New York Film Festival's prize for Best Documentary. In an interview with [[Peter Robinson (speechwriter)|Peter Robinson]], Ferguson recounted the "humiliation" his wife, [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]], endured at being disinvited from giving the commencement address at [[Brandeis University]] in 2014.<ref name=":2">{{cite web |title=Uncommon Knowledge: "The Treason of the Intellectuals", With Niall Ferguson {{!}} Uncommon Knowledge {{!}} Peter Robinson {{!}} Hoover Institution|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-treason-of-the-intellectuals-with/id1378389941?i=1000642688614 |access-date=24 January 2024 |website=Apple Podcasts }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=9 April 2014 |title=Brandeis withdraws honorary degree for Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/09/brandeis-withdraws-honorary-degree-ayaan-hirsi-ali-college |access-date=24 January 2024 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> Observing this to being a recurring phenomena as "a curious illiberal turn" for universities, including Harvard where he was teaching, and that this made him a critic of [[cancel culture]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{cite web |last=O'Toole |first=Fintan |title=Cancel culture is turning healthy tensions into irreconcilable conflicts |url=https://dlv.prospect.gcpp.io/politics/38201/cancel-culture-is-turning-healthy-tensions-into-irreconcilable-conflicts |access-date=24 January 2024 |website=dlv.prospect.gcpp.io }}</ref> [[Prospect (magazine)|''Prospect'']] has since described him as one of the most prominent supporters of anti cancel-culture.<ref name=":3" /> Ferguson
====Television documentaries====
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In his 2003 book, ''Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World'', Ferguson conducts a provocative reinterpretation of the [[British Empire]], casting it as one of the world's great modernising forces. The Empire produced durable changes and [[Globalization|globalisation]] with [[Steam engine|steampower]], [[Electrical telegraph|telegraphs]], and [[Engineering|engineers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Empire/reviews/porter.html |title=Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World |date=April 2003 |access-date=17 February 2011 |first=Andrew |last=Porter |publisher=Institute of Historical Research, University of London |work=Reviews in History}}</ref><ref name="Jon-Wilson-2003-False-dangerous">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2003/feb/08/highereducation.britishidentity|title=False and dangerous: Revisionist TV history of Britain's empire is an attempt to justify the new imperial order|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|first=Jon|last=Wilson|date=8 February 2003a|access-date=17 February 2011}}</ref> [[Bernard Porter]], famous for expressing his views during the [[Porter–MacKenzie debate]] on the British Empire, attacked ''Empire'' in ''[[The London Review of Books]]'' as a "panegyric to British colonialism".<ref name="TellMe">[http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n10/letters#letter1 Tell me where I'm wrong] [[London Review of Books]], 19 May 2005</ref> In response to this, Ferguson drew Porter's attention to the conclusion of the book, where he writes: "No one would claim that the record of the British Empire was unblemished. On the contrary, I have tried to show how often it failed to live up to its own ideal of individual liberty, particularly in the early era of enslavement, transportation and the '[[ethnic cleansing]]' of [[indigenous peoples]]." Despite this, Ferguson argues that the British Empire was still preferable to [[German Empire|German]] and [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] rule at the time:
<blockquote>The 19th-century empire undeniably pioneered free trade, free capital movements and, with the [[British abolition of slavery|abolition of slavery]], free labour. It invested immense sums in developing a global network of modern communications. It spread and enforced the rule of law over vast areas. Though it fought many [[Colonial war|small wars]], the empire maintained a [[Pax Britannica|global peace]] unmatched before or since. In the 20th century too the empire more than justified its own existence. For the alternatives to British rule represented by the
The book was the subject for a documentary series on British television network [[Channel 4]].
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====''The Square and the Tower''====
In 2018's ''[[The Square and the Tower]]'', Ferguson proposed a modified version of [[group selection]] that history can be explained by the evolution of human networks. He wrote, "Man, with his unrivaled neural network, was born ''to'' network."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ferguson|first1=Niall|title=The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook|date=2017|publisher=Penguin|location=New York}}</ref> The title refers to a transition from hierarchical "tower" networks to flatter "square" network connections between individuals. In a review of the book, [[John Gray (philosopher)|John Gray]] was not convinced. He wrote, "[Ferguson] offers a mix of metaphor and what purports to be a new science."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gray |first=John |author-link=John Gray (philosopher) |date=22 March 2018 |title=Circling the Square |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/03/22/niall-ferguson-circling-square/ |magazine=[[The New York Review of Books]] |volume=LXV |issue=5 |pages=28–29}}</ref> In ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', Deirdre McCloskey wrote: "Niall Ferguson has again written a brilliant book, this time in defence of traditional top-down principles of governing the wild market and the wilder international order. ''The Square and the Tower'' raises the question of just how much the unruly world should be governed{{snd}}and by whom. Not everyone will agree, but everyone will be charmed and educated. ... ''The Square and the Tower'' is always readable, intelligent, original. You can swallow a chapter a night before sleep and your dreams will overflow with scenes of Stendhal's ''[[The Red and the Black]]'', Napoleon, Kissinger. In 400 pages you will have restocked your mind. Do it."<ref>{{cite news |last1=McCloskey |first1=Deirdre |title=Review: The Great and the Good |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/review-the-great-and-the-good-1515794202 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=12 January 2018
====''Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe''====
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{{Conservatism UK|Intellectuals}}
Ferguson has been referred to as a [[conservative]] historian by some commentators and fellow historians.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jun/02/niall-ferguson-quits-stanford-free-speech-role-over-leaked-emails|title=Niall Ferguson quits Stanford free speech role over leaked emails|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=2 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-ascent-of-niall-ferguson|title = The Ascent of Niall Ferguson}}</ref> Ferguson himself stated in a 2018 interview on the ''[[Rubin Report]]'' that his views align to [[classical liberalism]],<ref>{{YouTube|id=v=MdeFJ4WCqhk}}</ref> and has referred to himself as a "classic [[Scottish Enlightenment|Scottish enlightenment]] liberal" on other occasions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/20/niall-ferguson-interview-civilization|title = Niall Ferguson: 'Westerners don't understand how vulnerable freedom is'|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date = 20 February 2011}}</ref> Some of his research and conclusions have been criticised by commentators on the [[political left]].<ref name="guardian" /> In a 2011 interview, Ferguson said elements of the left "love being provoked by me! Honestly, it makes them feel so much better about their lives to think that I'm a reactionary; it's a substitute for thought. "Imperialist scumbag" and all that. Oh dear, we're back in a 1980s student union debate."<ref name="The Guardian" /> Ferguson endorsed [[Kemi Badenoch]]'s campaign during the [[July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election]].<ref name="auto6">{{cite tweet |user=nfergus |number=1549367784080961537 |title=The rise of the very talented @KemiBadenoch is truly remarkable. She would be a Tory Obama if she won this. The whole leadership contest is a disaster for the bogus narrative that Brexit was motivated by racism and / or nostalgia for Empire.}}</ref>
===World War I===
In 1998, Ferguson published ''The Pity of War: Explaining World War One'', which with the help of [[research assistant]]s he was able to write in just five months.<ref name="Niall Ferguson, Senior Fellow">[http://www.hoover.org/bios/ferguson.html Niall Ferguson, Senior Fellow] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720163432/http://www.hoover.org/bios/ferguson.html |date=20 July 2008 }} Hoover Institution, 30 November 2011.</ref><ref name=RobertBoynton /> This is an analytic account of what Ferguson considered to be the ten great myths of the [[Great War]]. The book generated much controversy, particularly Ferguson's suggestion that it might have proved more beneficial for Europe if Britain had stayed out of the First World War in 1914, thereby allowing Germany to win.{{sfn|Ferguson|1999|pp=460–461}}
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* That Germany was faced with [[World War I reparations|reparations]] after 1921 that could not be paid except at ruinous economic cost (Ferguson argues that Germany could easily have paid reparations had there been the political will).{{sfn|Ferguson|1999|pp=412–431}}
The French historians Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau and Annette Becker were dubious about much of Ferguson's methodology and conclusions in ''The Pity of War'', but praised him for the chapter dealing with the executions of [[POWs]], arguing that Ferguson had exposed a dark side of the war that until then had been ignored.<ref>Audoin-Rouzeau, Stéphane and Becker, Annette ''14–18: Understanding the Great War'', New York: Hill and Wang, 2014 p. 84.</ref> About ''The Pity of War'', the American academic [[Michael Lind]] wrote:
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Ferguson wrote two volumes about the prominent [[Rothschild family]]: ''The House of Rothschild: Volume 1: Money's Prophets: 1798–1848'' and ''The House of Rothschild: Volume 2: The World's Banker: 1849–1999''. These books were the result of original archival research.<ref name=wells>Benjamin Wallace-Wells [http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0406.wallace-wells.html "Right Man's Burden"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109201139/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0406.wallace-wells.html |date=9 November 2006 }}, ''[[Washington Monthly]]'', June 2004.</ref> The books won the Wadsworth Prize for Business History and were also short-listed for the [[Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Literary Award]] and the [[Jewish Book Council|American National Jewish Book Award]].<ref name="nfbio" />
The books were widely acclaimed by historians,<ref name=wells /> although they received some criticism. [[John Lewis Gaddis]], a [[Cold War]]-era historian, praised Ferguson's "unrivaled range, productivity and visibility", while criticising the book as unpersuasive and containing contradictory claims.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/25/books/the-last-empire-for-now.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=The Last Empire, for Now|author=
Writing in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', Robert Skidelsky praised Ferguson, stating: "Taken together, Ferguson's two volumes are a stupendous achievement, a triumph of historical research and imagination. No serious historian can write about the connection between the politics, diplomacy, and economics of the nineteenth century in the same way again. And, as any good work of history should do, it constantly prompts us to ask questions about our own age, when once again we have embarked on the grand experiment of a world economy without a world government."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Skidelsky |first1=Robert |title=Family Values |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1999/12/16/family-values/ |website=www.nybooks.com |publisher=The New York Review of Books |date=16 November 1999}}</ref>
===Counterfactual history===
Ferguson sometimes
===Henry Kissinger===
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Ferguson has defended the [[British Empire]], stating, "I think it's hard to make the case, which implicitly the left makes, that somehow the world would have been better off if the Europeans had stayed home."<ref name="guardian"/> Ferguson is critical of what he calls the "self-flagellation" that he says characterises modern European thought.<ref name="guardian"/>
<blockquote>The moral simplification urge is an extraordinarily powerful one, especially in this country, where imperial guilt can lead to self-flagellation. ... And it leads to very simplistic judgments. The rulers of [[western Africa]] prior to the European empires were not running some kind of scout camp. They were engaged in the [[Atlantic
====Critical views of Ferguson and empire====
Historians and commentators have considered his views on this issue and expressed their critical evaluation in various terms, from "audacious" yet "wrong",<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/jan/18/featuresreviews.guardianreview5|title=Review: ''Empire'' by Niall Ferguson|date=18 January 2003|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=19 April 2021}}</ref> "informative",<ref>{{cite web |title=Review Niall Ferguson, Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power (New York: Basic Books, 2003), 384 pp. |url=http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/tempus/Book_Reviews_files/olsenreview.pdf |access-date=2 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143137/http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/tempus/Book_Reviews_files/olsenreview.pdf |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> "ambitious" and "troubling", to "false and dangerous" apologia.<ref name="Jon-Wilson-2003-False-dangerous" /><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Hoffmann |first1=Stanley |title=Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and Its Lessons for Global Power, Review|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|date=28 January 2009 |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2003-09-01/empire-rise-and-demise-british-world-order-and-its-lessons-global}}</ref> [[Richard Drayton]], [[Rhodes Professor of Imperial History]] at [[King's College London]], has stated that it was correct of [[Seumas Milne]] to associate "Ferguson with an attempt to 'rehabilitate empire' in the service of contemporary great power interests".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/jun/16/british-empire-kenya-deaths |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title=Letters: The British empire and deaths in Kenya |date=16 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jun/10/british-empire-michael-gove-history-teaching|title=This attempt to rehabilitate empire is a recipe for conflict|date=10 June 2010|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|last1=Milne |first1=Seumas }}</ref> In November 2011, [[Pankaj Mishra]] reviewed ''Civilisation: The West and the Rest'' unfavourably in the ''London Review of Books''.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mishra |first=Pankaj |author-link=Pankaj Mishra |date=3 November 2011 |title=Watch this man |magazine=[[London Review of Books]] |volume=33 |issue=21 |pages=10–12 |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n21/pankaj-mishra/watch-this-man |access-date=2 June 2013}}</ref> Ferguson demanded an apology and threatened to sue Mishra on charges of [[libel]] due to allegations of racism.<ref>{{cite news |last=Beaumont |first=Peter |title=Niall Ferguson threatens to sue over accusation of racism |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/26/niall-ferguson-pankaj-mishra-review |access-date=4 September 2012 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=26 November 2011}}</ref>
Jon Wilson, a professor of the Department of History at
About Ferguson's claim that Britain "made the modern world" by spreading [[democracy]], [[free trade]], [[capitalism]], the [[rule of law]], [[Protestantism]], and the [[English language]], Wilson charged that Ferguson never explained precisely how this was done,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wilson|first=Jon|title=Niall Ferguson's Imperial Passion|pages=175–183 (177)|journal=[[History Workshop Journal]]|issue=56|date=Autumn 2003b|jstor=4289864}}</ref> arguing that the reason was the lack of interest in the history of the people ruled by the British on Ferguson's part, who therefore could not perceive that the interaction between the colonisers and the colonised in places like India, where the population embraced aspects of [[British culture]] and rule that were appealing to them while rejecting others that were unappealing.<ref name="auto3">{{harvnb|Wilson|2003b|p=179}}</ref> Wilson argues that this interaction between the rulers and the ruled is more complex, and contradicts Ferguson's one-sided picture of the British "transforming" India that portrays the British as active and the Indians as passive.<ref name="auto3" /> Wilson charged that Ferguson failed to look at the empire via non-British eyes because to do so would be to challenge his claim that Britain "made the modern world" by imposing its values on "the Other", and that the history of the empire was far more complicated than the simplistic version that Ferguson is trying to present.<ref name="auto3" />
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<blockquote>Uncannily similar processes are destroying the European Union today... Let us be clear about what is happening. Like the Roman Empire in the early fifth century, Europe has allowed its defenses to crumble. As its wealth has grown, so its military prowess has shrunk, along with its self-belief. It has grown decadent in its shopping malls and sports stadiums. At the same time, it has opened its gates to outsiders who have coveted its wealth without renouncing their ancestral faith.<ref name="Ferguson"/></blockquote>
About the [[2015 European migrant crisis]], Ferguson wrote the mass influx of refugees into Europe from Syria was a modern version of the ''[[Völkerwanderung]]'' when the [[Huns]] burst out of Asia and invaded Europe, causing millions of the [[Germanic peoples]] to flee into the presumed safety of the [[Roman Empire]], smashing their way in as the Romans attempted unsuccessfully to stop the Germans from entering the empire.<ref name="Ferguson"/> Ferguson argued that Gibbon was wrong to claim the Roman Empire collapsed slowly and argues that the view among a growing number of modern scholars is that the [[collapse of the Roman Empire]] was swift and violent; unforeseeable by Romans of the day, just as the collapse of modern European civilization would likewise be for modern Europeans.<ref name="Ferguson"/> In 2017, Ferguson opined that the West had insufficiently heeded the rise of militant Islam and its global consequences in the same way it failed to predict that the rise of [[Vladimir Lenin]] would lead to the further spread of communism and conflict around the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.niallferguson.com/journalism/history/we-let-lenin-rise-millions-died.-now-its-islamism|title=We let Lenin rise, millions died. Now it's Islamism
<blockquote>Ask yourself how effectively we in the West have responded to the rise of militant Islam since the [[Iranian Revolution]] unleashed its [[Shia Islam|Shi'ite]] variant and since [[September 11 attacks|9/11]] revealed the even more aggressive character of [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[Islamism]]. I fear we have done no better than our grandfathers did.
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Foreign intervention—the millions of dollars that have found their way from the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf]] to radical mosques and Islamic centres in the West.
Incompetent liberals—the proponents of [[multiculturalism]] who brand any opponent of [[jihad]] an "[[Islamophobe]]". Clueless bankers—the sort who fall over themselves to offer "sharia-compliant" loans and bonds. Fellow travellers—the leftists who line up with the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] to castigate Israel at every opportunity. And the faint-hearted—those who were so quick to [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq (2007–2011)|pull out of Iraq]] in 2009 that they allowed the rump of [[al-Qaeda]] to morph into
A century ago it was the West's great blunder to think it would not matter if [[Russian Revolution|Lenin and his confederates took over the Russian Empire]], despite their stated intention to plot [[world revolution]] and overthrow both democracy and capitalism. Incredible as it may seem, I believe we are capable of repeating that catastrophic error. I fear that, one day, we shall wake with a start to discover that the Islamists have repeated the [[Bolshevik]] achievement, which was to acquire the resources and capability to threaten our existence.</blockquote>
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===Trump's "New World Order"===
In an article from November 2016 in ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', Ferguson advised that Trump should support the efforts of the prime minister [[Theresa May]] to have the United Kingdom leave the European Union as the best way of breaking up the European Union, and sign a [[free trade agreement]] with the United Kingdom once
| last = Ferguson
| first = Niall
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* Cutting federal [[discretionary spending]] by 20%
In February 2010, during the [[Greek government-debt crisis]], Ferguson appeared on the ''[[Glenn Beck Program]]'' predicting that if [[interest rate]]s rose in the United States, it could experience a similar [[sovereign default]] and mass [[civil disorder]] to what was occurring in Greece. He also praised the [[Tea Party movement]]. Later in the year, he called for the [[Federal Reserve]] under chairman [[Ben Bernanke]] to end its second round of [[quantitative easing]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Tooze|first=Adam
====Exchanges with Paul Krugman====
In May 2009, Ferguson became involved in a
In 2012, Jonathan Portes, the director of the [[National Institute of Economic and Social Research]], said that subsequent events had shown Ferguson to be wrong: "As we all know, since then both the US and UK have had deficits running at historically extremely high levels, and long-term interest rates at historic lows: as Krugman has repeatedly pointed out, the ([[IS/LM model|IS-LM]]) textbook has been spot on."<ref>{{cite web |last=Portes |first=Jonathan |title=Macroeconomics: what is it good for? [a response to Diane Coyle] |date=25 June 2012 |url=http://www.niesr.ac.uk/blog/macroeconomics-what-it-good-response-diane-coyle#.WC4tFckxCHm |access-date=26 June 2012}}</ref> After Ferguson wrote a cover story for ''[[Newsweek]]'' arguing that [[Mitt Romney]] should be elected in the [[2012 United States presidential election]], Krugman wrote that there were multiple errors and misrepresentations in the story, concluding: "We're not talking about ideology or even economic analysis here—just a plain misrepresentation of the facts, with an august publication letting itself be used to misinform readers. [''The New Times''] would require an abject correction if something like that slipped through. Will ''Newsweek''?"<ref>{{cite news |title=Paul Krugman Bashes Niall Ferguson's ''Newsweek'' Cover Story As "Unethical" |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paul-krugman-niall-ferguson-newsweek_n_1810136 |last=Kavoussi |first=Bonnie |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=20 August 2012}}</ref>
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===European Union===
In 2011, Ferguson predicted that [[Grexit]] (the notion of Greece leaving the [[euro]] currency) was unlikely to happen but that Britain would leave the [[European Union]] (EU) in the near future as it would be easier for Britain to leave the EU owing to the fact it was not part of the [[eurozone]] and that returning to a national currency would be harder for countries who had signed up to a single currency.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxFe7-kVv4g |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/zxFe7-kVv4g |archive-date=22 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Niall Ferguson On Brexit And 2020|date=26 March 2019 |via=
During the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum]], Ferguson was initially critical of the idea of Britain leaving the EU despite his criticisms of the latter, warning that "the economic consequences will be dire", and endorsed a Remain vote.<ref name="auto1"/> After backing the Remain campaign ([[Britain Stronger in Europe]]), Ferguson changed his stance and came out in support of [[Brexit]], admitting that his support to stay in had been motivated in part on a personal level by not wanting the government of [[David Cameron]] (with whom he had a friendship) to collapse and in turn risk [[Jeremy Corbyn]] becoming prime minister. Ferguson elaborated that while Brexit would still have some economic consequences, the EU had been a "disaster" on its monetary, immigration, national security, and radical Islam policies. He also added that "one has to recognise that the European elite's performances over the last decade entirely justified the revolt of provincial England".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r8eDIIo3fw|title=Niall Ferguson, 'I was wrong on Brexit'|via=
In 2020, Ferguson predicted that the EU was destined to become "moribund" and was at risk of collapse in the near future and that the single currency had only benefited [[Northern Europe]] and Germany in particular while causing economic havoc in [[Southern Europe]]. He also argued the "real disintegration of Europe" will happen over the [[EU's migration policies]] that he says have both exacerbated and failed to provide solutions to [[illegal immigration]] to the European continent from [[North Africa]] and the [[Middle East]]. Ferguson stated that high levels of illegal immigration from [[Muslim-majority nations]] would in turn further the rise of [[populist]] and [[Eurosceptic]] movements committed to rolling back or leaving the EU. Ferguson also predicted that in a decade's time Britain would question why there had been fuss, outcry, or debates over the manner of how to leave the EU over Brexit because "we'll have left something that was essentially disintegrating", and that "it would be a little bit like getting a divorce and then your ex drops dead, and you spent all that money on the divorce courts, if only you'd known how sick the ex was. The European Union is sick, and people don't really want to admit that, least of all in Brussels."<ref name="auto2"/> When commenting on the ethnic diversity of the candidates for the [[July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election]], Ferguson disputed that racism or nostalgia for the British Empire had played a significant role in the vote for Brexit.<ref name="auto6" />
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=== 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine ===
On 22 March 2022, around a month after the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], Ferguson wrote: "I conclude that the U.S. intends to keep this war going. The administration will continue to supply the Ukrainians with anti-aircraft Stingers, antitank Javelins and explosive Switchblade drones. ... It helps explain, among other things, the lack of any diplomatic effort by the U.S. to secure a cease-fire. ... Prolonging the war runs the risk not just of leaving tens of thousands of Ukrainians dead and millions homeless, but also of handing Putin something that he can plausibly present at home as victory."<ref name=Bloomberg2022>{{cite news |last1=Ferguson |first1=Niall |title=Putin Misunderstands History. So, Unfortunately, Does the U.S. |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-03-22/niall-ferguson-putin-and-biden-misunderstand-history-in-ukraine-war?sref=xzGl1Vcx |work=Bloomberg |date=22 March 2022}}</ref> He also criticized the [[2022 Moscow rally]] for justifying the invasion and described it as "fascistic".<ref
=== 2023–2024 Israel–Hamas war ===
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==Personal life==
<!--This material is all sourced. please do not remove without explaining on talk page or providing a more recent source that contradicts the sources used here-->
Ferguson met journalist [[Sue Douglas]] in 1987, when she was his editor at ''[[The Sunday Times]]''. They married in 1994, and went on to have three children.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/professor-paul-krugman-at-war-with-niall-ferguson-over-inflation-dldb3kflfbq |title=Professor Paul Krugman at war with Niall Ferguson over inflation |last=Lynn |first=Matthew|author-link=Matthew Lynn|date=23 August 2009 |work=[[The Times]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> In February 2010, Ferguson separated from Douglas and thereafter started dating [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/romance-british-historian-niall-ferguson-1892263.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/romance-british-historian-niall-ferguson-1892263.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Romance for British historian Niall Ferguson | first1=Cahal | last1=Milmo | first2=Luke | last2=Blackall | work=[[The Independent]] |date=8 February 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/corrections/niall-ferguson-and-ayaan-hirsi-ali-1909439.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/corrections/niall-ferguson-and-ayaan-hirsi-ali-1909439.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Niall Ferguson and Ayaan Hirsi Ali |work=[[The Independent]] |date=25 February 2010}}</ref> Ferguson and Douglas divorced in 2011. Ferguson married Hirsi Ali on 10 September 2011;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/8770965/Henry-Kissinger-watches-historian-Niall-Ferguson-marry-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-under-a-fatwa.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/8770965/Henry-Kissinger-watches-historian-Niall-Ferguson-marry-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-under-a-fatwa.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Henry Kissinger watches historian Niall Ferguson marry Ayaan Hirsi Ali under a fatwa |last=Eden |first=Richard |date=18 December 2011 |work=The Telegraph |access-date=27 September 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Murray |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Murray (author) |date=October 2011 |title=Right Wedding |url=http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/4135/full |newspaper=[[Standpoint (magazine)|Standpoint]] |access-date=7 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507221743/http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/4135/full |archive-date=7 May 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> she gave birth to their son three months later.<ref>{{cite
Ferguson met journalist [[Sue Douglas]] in 1987, when she was his editor at ''[[The Sunday Times]]''. They married in 1994, and went on to have three children.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/professor-paul-krugman-at-war-with-niall-ferguson-over-inflation-dldb3kflfbq |title=Professor Paul Krugman at war with Niall Ferguson over inflation |last=Lynn |first=Matthew|author-link=Matthew Lynn|date=23 August 2009 |work=[[The Times]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Ferguson was the inspiration for [[Alan Bennett]]'s play ''[[The History Boys]]'' (2004), particularly the character of Irwin, a history teacher who urges his pupils to find a counterintuitive angle, and who then goes on to become a television historian.<ref name="Smith" /> Irwin, writes David Smith of ''The Observer'', gives the impression that "an entire career can be built on the trick of contrariness".<ref name="Smith" />▼
Ferguson dedicated his book ''Civilization'' to "Ayaan". In an interview with ''[[The Guardian]]'', Ferguson spoke about his love for Ali who, he writes in the preface, "understands better than anyone I know what Western civilisation really means – and what it still has to offer the world".<ref name="guardian" /> The couple have two sons.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 May 2021 |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Immigration Reform and Assimilation in Europe |url=https://lithub.com/ayaan-hirsi-ali-on-immigration-reform-and-assimilation-in-europe/ |access-date=12 June 2024 |website=Literary Hub }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Jensen |first=Nicholas |date=18 June 2021 |title=Administrative state every bit as harmful as Covid, says historian Niall Ferguson |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/books/administrative-state-every-bit-as-harmful-as-covid-says-historian-niall-ferguson/news-story/ffb04e2d9ab47c2fc6589e926e5fbb8f}}</ref> In a 2024 interview with [[Greg Sheridan]], Ferguson said that he, Hirsi Ali, and their two sons were baptised in September 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sheridan |first=Greg|author-link=Greg Sheridan|date=2024-12-21|title=How historian Niall Ferguson became a religious believer (print: Niall Ferguson's journey from atheist to Christian)|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/how-historian-niall-ferguson-became-a-religious-believer/news-story/584b057b0dde22570a248ea3b5d7f433|url-access=subscription|access-date=2024-12-21|newspaper=[[The Weekend Australian]]|page=31}}</ref>
▲In February 2010, Ferguson separated from Douglas and thereafter started dating [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/romance-british-historian-niall-ferguson-1892263.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/romance-british-historian-niall-ferguson-1892263.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Romance for British historian Niall Ferguson | first1=Cahal | last1=Milmo | first2=Luke | last2=Blackall | work=[[The Independent]] |date=8 February 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/corrections/niall-ferguson-and-ayaan-hirsi-ali-1909439.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/corrections/niall-ferguson-and-ayaan-hirsi-ali-1909439.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Niall Ferguson and Ayaan Hirsi Ali |work=[[The Independent]] |date=25 February 2010}}</ref> Ferguson and Douglas divorced in 2011. Ferguson married Hirsi Ali on 10 September 2011;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/8770965/Henry-Kissinger-watches-historian-Niall-Ferguson-marry-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-under-a-fatwa.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/8770965/Henry-Kissinger-watches-historian-Niall-Ferguson-marry-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-under-a-fatwa.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Henry Kissinger watches historian Niall Ferguson marry Ayaan Hirsi Ali under a fatwa |last=Eden |first=Richard |date=18 December 2011 |work=The Telegraph |access-date=27 September 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Murray |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Murray (author) |date=October 2011 |title=Right Wedding |url=http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/4135/full |newspaper=[[Standpoint (magazine)|Standpoint]] |access-date=7 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507221743/http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/4135/full |archive-date=7 May 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> she gave birth to their son three months later.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.elsevier.nl/web/Stijl/Society/326446/Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-42-bevalt-van-een-zoon.htm |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali (42) bevalt van een zoon |work=[[Elsevier (magazine)|Elsevier]] |date=30 December 2011 |first=Jessica |last=Numann |access-date=30 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/12/ayaan_hirsi_ali_gives_birth_to.php |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali gives birth to baby boy |work=DutchNews.nl |date=30 December 2011 |access-date=9 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3099200/2011/12/30/Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-is-bevallen-van-zoon-Thomas.dhtml |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali is bevallen van zoon Thomas |work=Volkskrant |date=30 December 2011 |access-date=9 June 2012}}</ref> Upset about the media coverage of his relationship with Hirsi Ali, which implied that he had begun dating her before his first marriage had unraveled, Ferguson stated: "I don't care about the sex lives of celebrities, so I was a little unprepared for having my private life all over the country."<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/apr/11/niall-ferguson-political-debate-england-america |title= 'The left love being provoked by me ... they think I'm a reactionary imperialist scumbag' |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=11 April 2011}}</ref>
Ferguson's self-confessed [[workaholism]] has placed strains on his personal relations in the past. In 2011, Ferguson commented:
▲Ferguson dedicated his book ''Civilization'' to "Ayaan". In an interview with ''[[The Guardian]]'', Ferguson spoke about his love for Ali who, he writes in the preface, "understands better than anyone I know what Western civilisation really means – and what it still has to offer the world".<ref name="guardian" /> The couple have two sons.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 May 2021 |title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Immigration Reform and Assimilation in Europe |url=https://lithub.com/ayaan-hirsi-ali-on-immigration-reform-and-assimilation-in-europe/ |access-date=12 June 2024 |website=Literary Hub }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Jensen |first=Nicholas |date=18 June 2021 |title=Administrative state every bit as harmful as Covid, says historian Niall Ferguson |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/books/administrative-state-every-bit-as-harmful-as-covid-says-historian-niall-ferguson/news-story/ffb04e2d9ab47c2fc6589e926e5fbb8f}}</ref> In a 2024 interview with [[Greg Sheridan]], Ferguson said that he, Hirsi Ali, and their two sons were baptised in September 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sheridan |first=Greg|author-link=Greg Sheridan|date=2024-12-21|title=How historian Niall Ferguson became a religious believer (print: Niall Ferguson's journey from atheist to Christian)|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/how-historian-niall-ferguson-became-a-religious-believer/news-story/584b057b0dde22570a248ea3b5d7f433|url-access=subscription|access-date=2024-12-21|newspaper=[[The Weekend Australian]]|page=31}}</ref> Ferguson's self-confessed [[workaholism]] has placed strains on his personal relations in the past. In 2011, Ferguson commented:
<blockquote>[F]rom 2002, the combination of making TV programmes and teaching at Harvard took me away from my children too much. You don't get those years back. You have to ask yourself: "Was it a smart decision to do those things?" I think the success I have enjoyed since then has been bought at a significant price. In hindsight, there would have been a bunch of things that I would have said no to.<ref name="Duncan" /></blockquote>
▲
In 2018, Ferguson became [[Naturalization Act of 1790|naturalised]] as a United States citizen.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ferguson |first=Niall |date=15 July 2018 |title=Britain Trumped: I'm an American citizen at last |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/britain-trumped-i-m-an-american-citizen-at-last-2w7gsl93h |newspaper=The Times |access-date=1 July 2019 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> He was elected an [[Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]] (HonFRSE) in the disciplines of language, literature and history in 2020.<ref>[https://rse.org.uk/fellowship/fellow/professor-niall-ferguson-7995/ "Current Fellows: Professor Niall Ferguson HonFRSE"], [[The Royal Society of Edinburgh]]</ref> On 14 June 2024, Ferguson was awarded a [[Knight Bachelor|knighthood]] in the birthday honours list of [[Charles_III|King Charles III]].<ref>{{cite news |date=14 June 2024 |title=Birthday Honours List 2024 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-kings-birthday-honours-list-2024/birthday-honours-list-2024-high-awards-html#knights-bachelor |access-date=4 July 2019}}</ref>▼
▲In 2018, Ferguson became [[Naturalization Act of 1790|naturalised]] as a United States citizen.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ferguson |first=Niall |date=15 July 2018 |title=Britain Trumped: I'm an American citizen at last |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/britain-trumped-i-m-an-american-citizen-at-last-2w7gsl93h |newspaper=The Times |access-date=1 July 2019 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> He was elected an [[Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]] (HonFRSE) in the disciplines of language, literature and history in 2020.<ref>[https://rse.org.uk/fellowship/fellow/professor-niall-ferguson-7995/ "Current Fellows: Professor Niall Ferguson HonFRSE"], [[
==Selected bibliography==
{{main|Niall Ferguson bibliography}}
*{{cite book | last =Ferguson | first = Niall |title= Paper and iron : Hamburg business and German politics in the era of inflation, 1897–1927 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1995|isbn=0-521-47016-1|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last=Ferguson|first=Niall|author-mask= 1 |title= The House of Rothschild: The World's Banker, 1849–1999 |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |location=New York
** {{cite book |last=Ferguson|first= Niall|author-mask= 1 |title=The World's Banker: The History of the House of Rothschild |publisher=[[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]] |location=London |year=1998 |isbn=0-297-81539-3|ref=none}}
** {{cite book |last=Ferguson|first= Niall|author-mask= 1 |title=The House of Rothschild |publisher= Viking |location= New York |year=1998 |isbn=0-670-85768-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/houseofrothschil00ferg|ref=none}}
Line 309 ⟶ 307:
*{{cite book |last=Ferguson|first= Niall|author-mask= 1 |title=Civilization: The West and the Rest |publisher=The Penguin Press HC |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-59420-305-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/civilizationwest00ferg|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last=Ferguson|first= Niall|author-mask= 1 |title=[[The Great Degeneration: How Institutions Decay and Economies Die|The Great Degeneration]] |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=2013|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last=Ferguson|first= Niall|author-mask= 1 |title=Kissinger: 1923–1968: The Idealist |publisher=[[Penguin Group
*{{cite book |last=Ferguson|first= Niall|author-mask= 1 |title=[[The Square and the Tower|The Square and the Tower: Networks, Hierarchies and the Struggle for Global Power]] |publisher=Allen Lane |location=London |year=2017 |isbn= 978-024129-046-0|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last=Ferguson|first= Niall|author-mask= 1 |title= [[Doom (book)
==See also==
Line 328 ⟶ 326:
* Martin Rubin, [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704895204575321072553012144?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_6 "A Banker to the Rescue"], WSJ.com, 26 June 2010
* [[Liaquat Ahamed]], [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/books/review/Ahamed-t.html?ref=books "Yesterday's Banker"], NYTimes.com, 30 July 2010
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110522131434/http://www.oxonianreview.org/wp/the-sun-sets-in-the-west/ "The Sun Sets in the West"]}}, ''[[The Oxonian Review]]'', 4 April 2011 – Review of ''Civilization''
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110506010810/http://www.oxonianreview.org/wp/an-interview-with-niall-ferguson/ "An Interview with Niall Ferguson"]}}, ''The Oxonian Review'', 9 April 2011
* [http://www.salon.com/2011/05/24/lind_niall_fergsuon/ "Niall Ferguson and the brain-dead American right"], 24 May 2011
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