Alexander Lee

Although he was many things to many people over the course of his career, Eco was, first and foremost, an historian railing against modernism in all its forms.

The turkey’s path to festive supremacy was much more unexpected – and glorious – than it might seem.

Does the death of French medievalist Jacques Le Goff mark the end of an era in historical scholarship, asks Alexander Lee.

It is the issue of Russian identity, rather than strategic or economic importance, that lies at the heart of the Crimean crisis, argues Alexander Lee

Buildings like the Shard may look like heralds of the future, but they are part of a long history of idealistic urban planning, says Alexander Lee.

Alexander Lee attempts to rescue the Borgia family from their baleful reputation as a political – and papal – dynasty steeped in sin.

Alexander Lee shows that Belgium’s new king will have to learn the lessons of the past.

Alexander Lee admires an article by Frederick Godfrey from 1952, reflecting new attitudes towards the Renaissance.

Alexander Lee finds a ‘lip-smacking smorgasbord of Tudor delights’ in the work of William Shakespeare.

As Cyprus attempts to solve its debt problem by targeting private assets, Alexander Lee finds some ominous lessons in 15th-century Florence.