Cultural

R.V. Sampson charts the philosophical battles that the philosophes fought to publish their Enlightenment masterwork of human knowledge.

Naomi Mitchinson on the complex linguistic legacies of the travelling people.

John Clive records how, during the opening years of the 19th century, Edinburgh added to its European reputation by producing one of the most famous critical magazines of the age.

Alan Yorke-Long documents the beginnings of Georgian England's affair with the music of the Hanoverian composer.

Quentin Bell unveils deeper meanings from the ever-evolving history of fashion and fancy dress.

Lucy Inglis admires Nicholas Orme’s article on medieval childhood, first published in History Today in 2001.

Helen Szamuely explores the unprecedented success of a household manual and cookery book produced by a Russian housewife, Yelena Molokhovets, following the Emancipation of the Serfs in 1861.

‘If ever a house radiated cheerfulness, that house is Versailles.’ Nancy Mitford on the royal palace in the middle years of Louis XV.

The release of the 23rd Bond film, Skyfall, coincided with the 50th anniversary of James Bond’s first appearance on the silver screen. Klaus Dodds looks back on half a century of 007.

Richard Lowe-Lauri looks at the decline of bull running in the English town of Stamford.