In academic circles, there has been growing consternation at the steady march of “woke” ideology which has seen statues pulled down, university degrees “decolonised” and museum exhibits relabelled or removed altogether.

       Now some of the country’s most eminent professors have decided that enough is enough.

       No longer content to stay silent, they are mounting a fightback as they say “distortions” and “blatantly false” readings of history have become so widespread that they threaten to undermine Western civilisation.

       Robert Tombs, emeritus professor of History at the University of Cambridge, said that there has been increasing “alarm” among his colleagues at the sustained attack that historical figures have come under in recent years.

       “Pulling down Colston is one thing, but cancelling Gladstone, Robert Peel, Churchill… This is not simply an attack on people connected with slavery. It is an attack on our whole historical tradition,” he said.

       “I think the wokeness is probably coming from a very active minority, but one which is in fact rather influential in academia and in institutions like museums. But I don’t think it has very much public support.

       “The argument has been very one-way. It has been their views imposed on everyone else. This is often based on a very distorted view of history and in a sense it can be seen as a way to undermine the whole of Western civilisation, culture and tradition.

       “There are plenty of academics of repute who do not go along with this view, which is in fact very partial. I thought, I am sure others think this too, and started contacting other people. And it started there.”

       After enlisting the support of more than 40 leading intellectuals, Prof Tombs is now launching a new campaign called History Reclaimed, which is aimed at “calling out” misleading or one-sided narratives about historical figures or events.

       A website will be published on Sunday with articles from some of the world’s foremost scholars on contentious issues such as Empire, slavery and critical race theory.

       The History Reclaimed site will be co-edited by Prof Tombs and David Abulafia, emeritus professor of Mediterranean history at Cambridge.

       Writing in The Telegraph, Prof Abulafia explains that the project “aims to recover ways of looking at the past that are being pushed to one side by ideologically-driven distortions about what happened in history”.

       The campaign has enlisted the support of several Oxford dons, including Nigel Biggar, regius professor of moral and pastoral theology; Lawrence Goldman, emeritus professor and an expert in British and American history; and Sir Noel Malcolm, a senior research fellow.

       Academics from across Europe, Canada, New Zealand and the US have also lent their support to the project, including Prof Niall Ferguson, a senior fellow at Stanford University, and Prof Simon Haines, who leads the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation in Sydney.

       The website’s intended audience is the general public who are not experts in history, but are concerned by what they have read, according to Prof Tombs.

       “You read in the paper that Churchill is a racist and you think could that really be true? The idea is to publish short and accessible pieces which they could read,” he explained.

       “Our articles could also be read by ministers, civil servants, trustees of museums and galleries, or local authorities who may come under pressure.”

       ‘If no one speaks up, woke ideology will monopolise debate’

       Last summer, Black Lives Matter supporters compiled a “hit list” of dozens of statues across the country.

       Statues of historical figures including Sir Francis Drake, Nancy Astor, Christopher Columbus and William Gladstone should be toppled “for celebrating slavery and racism”, campaigners said.

       Prof Tombs said: “There must be local councillors who think, what is the truth about this? Should we pull it down or put up an explanation or what? We will provide what I hope will be solid and historical explanations.”

       Academics fear that if no one speaks up, the “woke” ideology will continue to monopolise public debate.

       “We are pushing back against a very simplistic narrative about slavery and colonialsim that has taken hold,” said Prof Doug Stokes, an expert in international relations at Exeter University who sits on the editorial committee of History Reclaimed.

       “Unless we push back, this will continue to be imposed on the British public. Broadly speaking, this country has played a hugely progressive role in history: the Magna Carta; the abolition movement; fighting against the Nazis. People should feel proud of that.”