Feature

Can the study of the past really help us to understand the present?

Methodism gained great popularity in the 18th century, but its followers were thought enthusiastic to the point of insanity, posing a serious threat to the established church.

French was the only language worth speaking in medieval Britain – and not just by the upper classes.

A teenager shipwrecked on a Pacific atoll helped transform relations between Japan and the United States.

Since the moment Emily Brontë died we have tried – and failed – to understand who she was. 

What voting rights did Britons have in the century before 1918?

Women played a minor role in the Easter Rising of 1916. But they became crucial intelligence agents in the Anglo-Irish War.

The dramatic events that shook Britain in the 17th century resonate more strongly than ever, despite attempts to marginalise them.

The West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt was an admirer of Britain from an early age. But his vision of European integration was not that of his British counterparts. 

During the 19th century, the physical effects of tuberculosis became the ideals of beauty for the fashionable woman.