Middle East

Yemen’s Endangered Treasures

The current conflict in southern Arabia is threatening one of the most remarkable sites of the region’s pre-Islamic civilisations.

The World We Have Lost

Too many historians and commentators view history from a western perspective. In doing so, they turn their back on the roots of our global system, argues Peter Frankopan.

Farewell to Aden

Roger Hudson details the tense situation leading up to the evacuation of British troops from Aden in 1967.

William Marshal , The Greatest Knight

The warrior and tutor-in-arms to the son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine promised his dying charge that he would complete the sacred task of crusading to the Levant. Did he succeed in his mission and fight the forces of Saladin?

New Caliphate, Old Caliphate

As the jihadists of ISIS continue their brutal campaign to restore the Islamic caliphate, Conor Meleady draws parallels with the ultimately futile efforts of another would-be caliph a century ago.

The British Arabists

Victorian travellers had made Arab studies a romantic discipline; but, writes Alaric Jacob, British involvement in Arab affairs arose from the First World War.