The Ambassador, the Grand Duke, his Wife and her Lover
What was the nature of the clandestine correspondence between the future Catherine the Great and the British ambassador to St Petersburg?
Feature
Solving Stonehenge
Anthony Johnson argues that an accurate interpretation of the great monument rests in the sophisticated geometric principles employed by its Neolithic surveyors.
Selma and Civil Rights
Mark Rathbone examines the importance of one Alabama town’s contribution to the civil rights movement.
Anglo-Saxon England and the Meaning of Britain
What did Britain and the Britons mean to the Anglo-Saxons, and what did it mean to be their ruler?
Charles Lindbergh: Aviation’s Unlikely Environmentalist
A figurehead for progress before his political disgrace, in later life Lindberg became concerned about the impact of technology on the environment.
Leaving Independent Burma Behind
Burma – now Myanmar – became independent in 1948. Could Britain have done more for this unhappy country?
Benito Mussolini’s Theatre of Fascism
To what extent did Italian fascism represent Mussolini’s triumph of style over substance?
English Legends of the Three Kings
Why does England have a special fondness for the three kings – or magi – of the Christmas story?
The Betrayal of Ramsay MacDonald
From 1931 it looked as though Britain’s first Labour prime minister would be its last. Is it time to reappraise the political reputation of Ramsay MacDonald?
The Nehru-Gandhi Family’s Tryst With Destiny
India cast off the monarchy in 1950, but the Nehru-Gandhi family have become republican royalty. How did one dynasty take centre stage in the world’s largest democracy?