Neil McGregor has transformed the fortunes of the British Museum in his four years at the top. Now he’s planning a major show, and, to get enough room to show it, is taking over the historic Reading Room. “Few, however, expect the plan to pass uncontested. Curators at the BM are resistant to disturbance and backwoods traditionalists and backbench MPs will doubtless rally in support of the dodo. Stand by for a tabloid outcry, the anti-literate in defence of the unread, before the Reading Room is finally submersed.”