Volume 50 Issue 5 May 2000

Flashman author George MacDonald Fraser explains how ‘history disguised as fiction’ has been his inspiration and is also his aim.

Michael Kustow gives his impressions of the David Irving libel trial against Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books, which raises important questions of the nature of historical evidence and its understanding.

Emma Mason argues that rising population brought a surprising degree of movement, politically, geographically and socially.

Ludmilla Jordanova insists on the importance of history beyond the groves of academia, and considers some of the challenges that historians face in this field.

Matthew Hilton examines the mystique surrounding tobacco which continues to confound the anti-smoking lobby.

Peter Monteath discusses the origins and fate of a huge Nazi holiday camp planned to invigorate the German workforce by means of ‘Strength through Joy’.

Denis Stevens describes a unique system of social support in 18th-century Venice that brought great economic, social and cultural benefits.

Richard Cavendish describes the execution of James Graham, Marquess of Montrose, on May 21st, 1650.

Daniel Snowman talks to Britain’s most distinguished military historian and the Defence Editor of the Daily Telegraph.

Richard Cavendish charts the early life of the abolitionist John Brown, born on May 9th, 1800.