The Clerkenwell Outrage
The first Irish Republican bomb detonated on English soil was not intended as an act of terrorism, but its impact – and death toll – sent shockwaves through Victorian London.
Victoria
Ship Shape: British Naval Strategy After Napoleon
British military engagement in northwest Europe did not pause after Waterloo and resume in 1914. The intervening century saw fluctuations in French power – and the creation of a strategic system to control it.
The Hidden Death in the Victorian Wallpaper
Arsenic was a hidden killer in Victorian homes, but it also played a large part in the British economy. Which comes first: commerce or public health?
The African King at Edward VII’s Coronation
King Lewanika’s invitation to the coronation of Edward VII was intended to stabilise British relations with the Barotse nation. Instead, it exposed the cracks in the imperial veneer.
How Does History Judge Prime Ministers?
Political reputations are forged by actions, but the long view of Britain’s prime ministers can be hard to predict.
The Rebecca Riots: Why Did Wales Rise Up?
Rebecca’s radical rural protests consumed South Wales in the 19th century. Who – or what – was she?
Rum and Reform: The Party on Norfolk Island
As convicts celebrated Queen Victoria’s birthday on remote Norfolk Island, debates raged over the purpose of punishment and the merits of Alexander Maconochie’s project of moral reform.
The Rebirth of Chivalry is Rained Off
On 28 August 1839, the earl of Eglinton hosted a ‘medieval’ tournament to mark Queen Victoria’s coronation. It was a damp squib.
Queen Victoria’s Stalker
Was the army captain in love with Queen Victoria a dangerous obsessive or an innocent man? His NSFW letters shocked but so did his treatment.
Off with Their Heads! Anti-Monarchism in Britain
Recent royal crises reveal echoes of discontent in 1870s Britain, when disquiet with monarchy manifested in calls for its abolition.