Volume: 62 Issue: 5

Ed Smith considers contingency, a factor central to both sport and history.

The Antipodean reformer died on May 16th, 1862.

Suggestions that the European Union should have control over Greece’s budget in order to curb its debt crisis have caused a fierce reaction from Athens. James...

The same spotlight of historical enquiry that scholars have long been shedding on the biblical past is now starting to illumine the origins of Islam, as Tom...

A selection of readers' correspondence with the editor, Paul Lay.

The election for London Mayor took place on May 3rd, marked by the bitter rivalry between the present incumbent Boris Johnson and his predecessor Ken Livingstone....

Mihir Bose asks why sport has become so central to modern culture.

The abdication crisis of 1937 forced a royalist magazine to present a different face to the world, as Luci Gosling reports.

Modern dance was born with the premiere of L'apres-midi d'un faune on May 29th, 1912.

Derek Wilson looks at the life of a French princess, who married and helped depose an English king during a tumultuous period of Anglo-French relations that was to...

Nigel Jones traces the chequered history of European referendums and asks why they appeal as much to dictators as to democrats.

The debate on Scottish independence has been dominated by economic arguments, to its detriment, argues Tim Stanley.

The only British Prime Minister to be assassinated whilst in office was murdered on May 11th, 1812.

Britain and the United States may have been on the same side during the Second World War, but cinematic representations of the conflict could stir controversy...

Roger Hudson reveals a big splash: Chairman Mao photographed attempting to swim the River Yangtze in July 1966.

Two hundred years ago Britain was gripped by a wave of violent machine breaking, as skilled textile workers, invoking the mythical Ned Ludd, attacked factories and...

Enter this month's crossword and win an audiobook of The People's Post by Dominic Sandbrook.

Taylor Downing appreciates the continuing relevance of an article questioning the accuracy of popular views of the wartime RAF.

In 1729 a young entrepreneur, Jonathan Tyers, took over the failing management of the pleasure gardens at Vauxhall. During his long tenure he was able to make it a...

Ramona Wadi reports on the continuing struggle to shed light on the death in 1973 of the Chilean singer and political activist Victor Jara.

Jan Golinski's new book reveals that attitudes to weather in the 18th century were one of the great test cases for the Enlightenment project in Britain

A convincing and entertaining new book by Tim Jeal brings the story of Nile exploration up to date.

A new book that offers a laid-back approach to cultural tourism that provokes both interest and irritation.

The first major biography of Joseph Rotblat, the scientist who helped build the atomic bomb then campaigned for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

A valuable and unusual addition to the many volumes on London.

Two new books illuminate the hidden role of intelligence in war and peace.

We tend to look at the 1960s as an era of free love. Yet a more profound sexual revolution happened in Britain in the 18th century.

An important book that demonstrates how crucial the political context is to any charge of heresy.