Ballot Archive

29 Oct 2020

Candidate Details

Candidate Name

Robert Harris

Academic degrees, honours etc.

MA Cantab. English Literature President of the Cambridge Union Editor of the student newspaper 'Varsity'

Profession or occupation

Writer

Grounds for election

Robert Harris, formerly a BBC journalist, is a widely respected writer and novelist who has published a number of highly successful books, set in different eras and cultures, including ancient Rome, late 19th-century France and mid-twentieth century Germany. The action of his most recent book, 'The Second Sleep', takes place at a time in the distant future, and the Society of Antiquaries figures centrally in the story. We see future antiquarians attempting to find out about and rescue the past, after an apocalyptic destruction of civilization. Although a work of fiction it imaginatively and vividly suggests the value and justification for antiquarian research and archaeology. President of the Classical Association; Honorary Fellow Selwyn College, Cambridge; Honorary doctorate from Nottingham University; Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Signatories

The following Fellows have signed this Blue Paper