I was not especially interested in history when I entered the sixth form at St Bede’s College, Manchester, in 1960, writes Ian Kershaw. For A level I chose Latin alongside French and settled on history to make up my third subject.During the next two years, however, Fr Geoffrey Burke was responsible for awakening a fascination with the past. I still recall Fr Burke as he stood at the front of our classroom in his clerical attire of black suit, a hint of a sardonic smile on his broad face, addressing us in a softly spoken but clear voice.He was a well-prepared and thorough teacher, who supplied us with great wads of typed notes – though only once we had finished discussing a particular topic. Before that point, we would have examined the subject in depth. Classes with