In 1897 The Gadfly was published in English by Ethel Lilian Voynich - ‘E.L.V.’ to her friends. Anne Fremantle introduces this revolutionary novel, set in nineteenth-century Italy, which has sold 5 million copies in Russia.
Christopher Hibbert describes how, against the Queen’s wishes, the Prince successfully toured the British Indian Empire at the age of thirty-four.
C.M. Yonge shows how, during the nineteenth century, the British public began to take a keen interest in the wonders of their native beaches.
John Terraine describes how, in the months before Trafalgar, the French Fleet from Toulon was ordered to the West Indies, but Nelson was convinced that their real aim was Egypt.
Stephen Clissold explains how, after twenty years of life as a nun, St Teresa began to experience visions and ecstasies which led her to found a reformed Carmelite convent in Avila.
In 1871 Parisians watched the burning of one of their most ancient palaces; and, Philip Mansel writes, twelve years later, its ruins were sold and demolished.
M. Foster Farley describes the battle of the Cowpens, of January 17th, 1781, whereby an experienced old soldier, Daniel Morgan, routed the force led by Banastre Tarleton, a ‘ruthless and ambitious’ young adventurer.
Steven R. Smith finds that John Evelyn proposed some drastic remedies to combat the polluted air of London in the seventeenth century.
One summer day, the author of the famous 'Alice' books first sent his heroine down a rabbit hole into a fantastic underground world, enriched with his own memories of many different scenes and characters.
‘There is a middle state’, Landor once said, ‘between love and friendship, more delightful than either, but more difficult to remain in.’ Such was the affectionate association that the Duke and Lady Shelley long enjoyed, writes Prudence Hannay
