Feature

Liberty and the Common Law

England’s legal system, which has since spread beyond its country of origin, resulted from an uncommon combination of centuries of input from a wide variety of sources. Harry Potter traces its roots and follows its branches.

In the Court of Haile Selassie

Three very different writers – Evelyn Waugh, Wilfred Thesiger, and Ryszard Kapuscinski – reported on the court of Haile Selassie during his reign, producing contrasting accounts of Ethiopia’s emperor.

Portugal: The First Global Empire

Poor and small, Portugal was at the edge of late medieval Europe. But its seafarers created the age of ‘globalisation’, which continues to this day.

A Society Built On Slavery

The extent to which Britons were involved in slave-ownership has been laid bare by a project based at University College London. Katie Donington shows how one family profited.

The Fall of Robespierre

The momentous final days of Maximilien Robespierre are well documented. Yet many of the established ‘facts’ about the Thermidorian Reaction are myths.

The Conference on African Peoples

A multiracial community of activists began organising public meetings and rallies in the 1930s, paving the way for the Pan-African Congress of 1945.

Magna Carta: The Atlantic Crossing

In no country is Magna Carta held in greater reverence than in the United States, playing a crucial role in founding the republic’s political and legal system.