Scots historian is Reith lecturer

Historian Niall Ferguson will give this year’s Reith lectures.

The talks, entitled The Rule of Law and its Enemies, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June and July.

Professor Ferguson said it was “an immense honour” to deliver the lectures. The Glasgow-born academic said his lectures would examine the financial crisis and politics.

Radio 4 controller Gwyneth Williams said Prof Ferguson was “an eminent historian with a global perspective”.

Previous lecturers include Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Bertrand Russell.