‘HISTORY is past politics, and politics present history’ must surely be one of the more famous quotations of Victorian historiography. Not only a clever turn of phrase, it also has the benefit of expressing a widespread belief about the inherent relationship between history and politics that was one of the hallmark assumptions underpinning much Victorian historical writing, ranging from the work of mid-century belles lettres to the more specialized histories produced by university historians at the turn of the century. But who actually coined the phrase?...