Memorably sweeping statements tripping easily from the tongue have a habit of worming their way into assumptions we make and ending up as the judgment of history. The word ‘appeasement’ rather than the decisions Neville Chamberlain actually took have consigned the name of a defensible statesman to something approaching a term of abuse. History, a mixed performance, occasionally awful, often impressive, from which the world emerges in one piece and in reasonable shape. It’s time for a change, so let’s see if we can make it work.