On the Spot: Patricia Fara
‘Who is the most underrated person in history?
Tupaia, the Tahitian navigator and translator who enabled James Cook to reach Australia and New Zealand’
What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?
Ambition and ruthlessness are ubiquitous and impossible to prevent.
Which history book has had the greatest influence on you?
Greg Dening’s The Death of William Gooch.
What book in your field should everyone read?
Peter Galison’s Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps.
Patricia Fara is an Emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge and a columnist at History Today.