Britain

Richard Cavendish remembers the death of England's only pope, on September 1st, 1159.

The two politicians fought on September 21st, 1809.

Mark Bryant admires a Russian artist whose lampoons of Napoleon inspired some notable British caricaturists.

A distant monarch, political factionalism, vainglorious commanders and the distraction of European enemies helped George Washington seal victory in the American War of Independence, writes Kenneth Baker, who explores the conflict through caricature and print.

Britain has had a long and sometimes problematic relationship with alcohol. James Nicholls looks back over five centuries to examine the many, often unsuccessful, attempts to reform the nation’s drinking habits.

Nick Smart scrutinises Chamberlain's foreign policy and the historiography of appeasement.

As bankers gain pariah status, William D. Rubinstein discusses Britain’s changing attitudes towards the wealthy.

A.J.P. Taylor gives a decidedly mid-20th century view of a mid-19th century war, its aims, and legacy. 

A century ago, the British authorities in India passed a series of reforms that they hoped would appease the subcontinent’s increasingly confident political movements. But, writes Denis Judd, it was too little, too late.

The messages sent by British soldiers of the First World War to their loved ones back home have long been valued for what they tell us about daily life in the trenches. But their authors were often at pains not to reveal too much of the horror they endured. Anthony Fletcher considers what these documents reveal about the men’s inner lives.