Volume 36 Issue 12 December 1986

Medieval Christmas

Existing elements of pagan midwinter rites fused with the developing theology of Christmas in an appeal to the senses of both sacred and lay.

The Bumps in the Night

Tony Aldous reveals the story behind Faversham and a gunpowder works built there around the mid-16th century

The Dream Life of Archbishop Laud

Willam Laud, Charles I's Archbishop of Canterbury and a formidable opponent of Puritanism, was executed on 10 January 1645. Charles Carlton examines his little-known nocturnal life. 

The Last Shangri La

Francis Robinson explores new educational and cultural advances in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

The Death of George V

What happened in those final days as the king's life moved ‘peacefully towards its close?’