19 MAY 2007, Page 24

History will tell

Sir: Edward Norman says in his review of Hans Küng’s Islam: Past, Present and Future (Books, 12 May) that ‘Küng, however, is no professional historian, which becomes clear when he cites as his authority “the British historian C. Northcote Parkinson”.’ Why should Hans Küng’s status as a historian be in doubt because he cites C. Northcote Parkinson? If anything becomes clear it is that Canon Norman has not connected the author of Britannia Rules, The Classic Age of Naval History 1793-1815 and about a dozen more eminently citable works of military and naval history (as well as historical novels) with the writer of Parkinson’s Law. There was a lot more lore to Parkinson than just his Law.

Richard Rose London W10