Napoleonic Era

The Louisiana Purchase, 1803: America Moves West

Arnold Whitridge recounts how, at the dawn of the 19th century, General Bonaparte sold to the United States the vast Bourbon heritage along the banks of the Mississippi, which is now the American Middle West.

Could Napoleon Have Won?

His refusal to learn by experience, C.S. Forester suggests, was largely responsible for Napoleon’s ultimate failure

Goya and the Peninsular War

To an official court painter we owe the most harrowing records of the effects of revolution and war. W.R. Jeudwine discusses Goya and his times.

Sicily's British Occupation

During the Napoleonic Wars Britain occupied the strategically important island of Sicily. Most of its inhabitants, tired of long-distance Bourbon rule, welcomed the arrangement, but their monarch did not, as Graham Darby explains.

Calamity in Cairo

Jonathan Downs reports on the fire last December that caused extensive damage to one of Egypt’s most important collections of historical manuscripts.

Nelson's Lost Letter

Richard Challoner unearths a letter, written in support of a widow and her children, which is revealing of a humanitarian aspect of Lord Nelson.

Castlereagh: Enlightened Conservative

Few figures in British political history have endured such lingering hostility as the statesman who did so much to forge Europe’s post-Napoleonic settlement, says John Bew.

Britain’s First World Wars

Wellington’s victories over the forces of Napoleon were critical to Britain’s ascendancy to superpower status. Peter Snow wonders why such a thrilling period of history is too often neglected.