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"Fame", John Milton once wrote, "is no plant that grows on mortal soil". Even the great poet himself, however, might have struggled to imagine the global scale on which his achievements are being celebrated four centuries later.

A study of how the Victorians considered transforming the British Empire into a “Greater Britain”, written by a Cambridge academic, has been announced as the joint winner of the 2008 Whitfield Book Prize.

"In a few day's time the Beagle will sail for the Galapagos Islands. I look forward with joy and interest to this, both as being somewhat nearer to England, and for the sake of having a good look at an active Volcano."

Sir John Plumb, former Master of Christ's College and one of the leading British historians of the last century, died in the early hours of Sunday 21 October 2001.