France

Pharaoh wielding justice, from the Old English Hexateuch, Canterbury, late 11th century. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

The Bayeux Tapestry: Woven by the Victors

The Bayeux Tapestry may be back in England, but it is a Norman artwork. For Anglo-Saxon voices, we need to look elsewhere.

A fan painted with Directory officials, c.1795-1802. Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris. Public Domain.

‘Desk Revolutionaries’ by Biancamaria Fontana review

Desk Revolutionaries: The Men of the French Directory, 1795-9 by Biancamaria Fontana sets the record straight on the French Revolution’s great experiment in governance.

Albert Camus, 1947. Roger-Viollet/TopFoto.

The Absurdity of Albert Camus

For Albert Camus understanding the past and predicting the future may hinge on one fact: history is absurd.

The great seal of king Henry I on a charter for Holy Trinity Prior established by Matilda, c.1108. The National Archives. Public Domain.

‘Empress Matilda’ by Elisabeth van Houts review

Empress Matilda: Queen of the Romans, Ruler of the English by Elisabeth van Houts is a sympathetic biography of the woman who would be king.

The First Tour de France

On 1 July 1903 a publicity stunt for a sporting paper cycled into history as the first Tour de France.

Coronation of the young Henry, 1170. English manuscript, 13th century. Bridgeman Images..

Henry the Young King is Crowned

On 14 June 1170 Henry II crowned his successor. Rather than secure the Angevin realm, it set the stage for rebellion.

Denis Healey, Pierre Messmer, and John Stonehouse, with a model of the Jaguar at the Ministry of Defence, London, 9 January 1968.

Getting European Defence Projects off the Ground

In the 1960s Anglo-French efforts to collaborate on a new combat aircraft – the BAC/Dassault AFVG – hit turbulence.

The diamond necklace, c.1786. Musée Carnavalet, Paris. Public Domain.

The Affair of the Diamond Necklace

On 31 May 1786 Paris relished the humiliation of Marie Antoinette as the Affaire du collier de la reine concluded in court.

The Forest, by François Boucher, 1740. Bridgeman Images.

Saving the Forests of Revolutionary France

Forestry is a delicate balancing act between the needs of the present and those of the future. The French Revolution brought into question how France’s forests should be managed.

Portrait of a man in a fur-trimmed coat holding a letter, Italian painter, c.1540. Metropolitain Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘Huguenot Networks’ by Penny Roberts review

Huguenot Networks: Truth and Secrecy in Sixteenth-Century Europe by Penny Roberts reveals the clandestine cross-border contacts of Huguenot spies, diplomats, and scholars.