The Siege of Bourg, 1406
J.L. Kirby describes an episode in the long struggle of the English Kings to keep their fiefs as Dukes of Aquitaine.
History Today
Defoe’s Tour and the Historian
F. Bastian finds that in composing his lively Tour, Defoe drew upon memories of journeys he had actually made and also upon the writings of earlier observers.
English Ale and Beer in Shakespeare’s Time
H.A. Monckton offers a taste of the beer of Elizabethan England, a beverage reportedly, ‘dark in colour, not very heavily hopped, and probably rather sweet and vinous’.
The Paris Peace Conference, Part II
Norman Bentwich analyses the diplomatic battle between the Soviet Union and the Western Powers that gradually came into the open in Paris in 1946, and foreshadowed the Cold War.
Escape from the Bastille, 1559
Joan Hasler describes how, as controller of Calais in 1558, Edward Grimston was captured when the town surrendered to the Duke of Guise and held to ransom in the Bastille.
The Problem of the Native Clergy in Portuguese India, 1518-1787
C.R. Boxer offers a study of the religious problems in early Roman Catholic missions.
The Roman Legions and their Officers
Geoffrey Powell offers a study of everyday Imperial military life.
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier: Merchant Extraordinary
George A. Rothrock introduces the son of a Protestant engraver, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier; a dealer in gems, Tavernier made six important journeys to Persia, India and Tonkin during the reign of Louis XIV
The Paris Peace Conference, Part I
Norman Bentwich recalls the official meetings in Paris of 1946, which were concerned with the future of Germany’s former allies in Europe. At these protracted sessions the conflict between the Soviet Union and the Western Powers gradually came into the open.
Charles II and the Treaty of Dover, 1670
The secret treaty of Dover, which concluded with the diplomatic aid of the King’s sister, Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, has been much denounced by Whig historians. A.A. Mitchell asks, what is the truth about the King’s intentions?