Interwar period

Britain’s involvement in the Middle East between the wars proved a rich seam for authors of adventure stories. Michael Paris shows how these, in turn, helped to reinforce the imperial mission.

Yvonne Sherratt explores the ways in which Adolf Hitler attempted to appropriate the ideas of some of Germany’s greatest thinkers during his brief incarceration in 1924.

Despite a lack of style or personality, W.N. Medlicott argues, Neville Chamberlain overcame his unique capacity for being misunderstood to achieve a record of consistency.

Hal Wert tells the story of the two Lithuanian-American aviators, Steponas Darius and Stanley Girenas, whose attempt to bring honour to the land of their birth ended tragically in July 1933.

Christopher Dawson profiles the historical writing of "the last of the encyclopaedists".

L.B. Namier on both the pre- and post-war case against would-be plotters within the Nazi regime.

Benjamin Ziemann examines the enigma of Karl Mayr, the reclusive army officer who nurtured Adolf Hitler’s early political career and participated in the Kapp Putsch of 1920, only to join the Reichsbanner,  the million-strong social democrat group devoted to defending the Weimar Republic.

Julian Piggott shows how, with the help of a puppet state on the Rhine, France between 1919 and 1923 attempted to solve the perpetual problem of her eastern frontier.

Elizabeth Wiskemann recounts the story of one of Europe’s richest and most hotly-disputed industrial territories

The story of penicillin is well known, as are those Nobel Prize winners who were honoured for their part in its discovery. But one man’s contribution has been overlooked. Malcolm Murfett sets the record straight on the biochemist Norman G. Heatley.

Roger Hudson examines a photograph from 1920 taken on the eve of a profound split on the French Left.

Japan flexed its muscles and launched a full-scale invasion of China following an incident on July 7th, 1937.

As a boy growing up in Munich Edgar Feuchtwanger witnessed the rise of Germany’s dictator at extraordinarily close range.