Volume 62 Issue 12 December 2012

Hitler's British Lair

In the event of a successful Nazi invasion of Britian, Adolf Hitler proposed rural Shropshire as his headquarters. Roger Moorhouse explores why he would have chosen such a location.

A Portuguese Palestine

Adam Rovner describes the little-known attempt to create a Zion in the Portuguese colony of Angola.

History is Never Black and White

While it is right to seek justice for those tortured and mistreated during the Kenyan Emergency of the 1950s, attempts to portray the conflict as a Manichean one are far too simplistic, argues Tim Stanley.

Man and Beast: 'Visiting Your Troops of Cattle'

Erica Fudge and Richard Thomas explore relationships between people and domestic animals in early modern England and how new types of archaeological evidence are shedding fresh light on one of the most important aspects of life in this period.

Mighty Lewd Books

As the erotic novel appears to be experiencing a renaissance Julie Peakman reflects on 18th-century appetites for pornography.

When is a Slave Not Really a Slave?

After bringing slavery in the West Indies to an end in 1834, Britons differed over how to treat other forms of oppression around the world, says Richard Huzzey.

Richard II: King of the White Hart

When Richard II succeeded his grandfather, Edward III, he turned to alchemy to create a more pious ideal of kingship. Though his reign ended in failure, it left us one of medieval England’s most enduring and complex images. Jonathan Hughes explores its symbolism.

Speaking Volumes

Geoffrey Best reflects on a lifetime collecting books and the difficulties – emotional and financial – of parting with them.