Like many sons of famous fathers, Graham Pollard experienced some difficulty in emerging from his father's shadow. Some children in similar circumstances are overwhelmed by the struggle to escape the influence of their fathers, and their personalities remain stunted and never fully develop. Pollard was able to turn the experience to his advantage.

His father was Albert Frederick Pollard, an academic with a formidable list of successes. He was the first professor of constitutional history at University College, London, a post that he held from 1903 to 1931. He founded the Historical Association and the Institute of Historical Research, and served on numerous committees and advisory bodies. He also became a research fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and often spent the week in London and the weekend in Oxford. He published more than a dozen significant books and received honorary doctorates from the universities of London, Oxford, and Manchester...