There are objects that explain an era and there are those that explain a country, or at least the vision that the victors of history have of the country. The Bayeux Tapestry belongs to the second category. With almost seventy meters in length and nearly a millennium of history, it is both an exceptional work of art, a tool of political propaganda, and the visual account of the moment that forever changed the destiny of England. From September 10, for the first time in almost 950 years, it will be possible to see it in London, after France authorized its loan within the framework of an unprecedented diplomatic agreement between French President Emmanuel Macron and the government of the then British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

Less than 100 meters from the British Museum, in the iconic London Review Bookshop, one of the first titles a customer encounters upon entering is the new edition of a 1979 classic. The PalestiniansThe book, written by journalist Jonathan Dimbleby and illustrated by photographer Don McCullin, began with a prologue explaining why the book was necessary at that time. Words that, almost half a century later, still resonate powerfully.