England

William Cobbett, English political reformer, was himself was largely self-educated. Molly Townsend describes how he regarded contemporary schooling as ‘a melancholy thing to behold’.

C. Northcote Parkinson describes the life and times of Jeffery Hudson of Oakham, Rutlandshire, a remarkable member of Charles I's court who nonetheless measured under three feet tall.

 Turner describes how, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, this exclusive London club was presided over by a feminine oligarchy, equal in power to the Venetian Council of Ten.

M. Foster Farley describes how, during his five years in the Vatican, Nicholas Breakspear had important dealings with the Holy Roman Empire, England and Ireland, and the Norman kingdom of Sicily.

C.R. Boxer describe show, three centuries ago, the great Dutch commander was mortally wounded in battle off the coast of Sicily.

A.L. Rowse pays tribute to the founding editors of History Today magazine.

John R. Guy introduces the soldier, churchman, and Royalist Fellow of New College who served Russia and Sweden during Cromwell’s years of power, and who returned to post-Restoration Britain to become a prominent parson in the Church of Wales.

J.P. Harthan describes The Salisbury Book of Hours; compiled in Rouen about 1425, the prayer-book owes its name to one of the best English commanders in France.

At a time when the Turkish rulers of Greece were conducting a profitable trade in ancient statues, Charles Fellows, an enlightened English tourist, rescued a precious hoard from Asia Minor. By Sarah Searight.

Simon de Montfort was an active commander in Gascony. William Seymour describes how, in 1264-5, the Anglo-Norman nobleman fought his two vital English battles at Lewes and Evesham.