Andrew Robinson recalls conversations with the famous director about his work, and in particular the recently re-released Urdu film, The Chess Players, made in the 1970s, which explores events surrounding the British annexation of Oudh in 1856.
Douglas Hurd looks at the way in which a Tory leader took a defeated and demoralized party, and reinvented it to appeal to a different and much more modern constituency.
York Membery visits Canada’s westernmost city.
As we come to terms with the lifestyle changes that will be forced on us by impending climate change, Mark Roodhouse of Rescue!History, an informal network concerned with historical issues related to the climate change agenda, looks at how a previous generation coped with limited supplies of fuel.
Penny Young investigates the situation of one of the country’s less-commonly mentioned communities.
Simon Sebag Montefiore imagines dinner with Catherine the Great, Prince Potemkin and Stalin.
Richard Cavendish describes the motor race to Paris which set off from Beijing on June 10th, 1907.
The British victory at Plassey in Bengal, on 23 June, 1757, was a crucial event in the history of India.
Mark Bryant describes the life and works of Abu Abraham, the Observer’s first ever political cartoonist.
David Roffe asks why exactly Domesday Book, the oldest and most precious of the English public records, was compiled – and for whom.
