Victorian

Cobden and Bright

Asa Briggs reflects on two Victorian radicalists who employed controversial new means to secure power, drawing both fervent disciples and bitter enemies, before their eventual defeat as part of a reaction against the ideas and methods of the 1840’s.

A South African Year of Crisis 1899

Edna Bradlow writes that while Paul Kruger felt he had an obligation to protect his country's moral right on behalf of the Transvaal Republic, Chamberlain, speaking for his own countrymen, declared that the issue involved both “our supremacy in South Africa and our existence as a great power”.

Gladstone and Education

The Education Act of 1870 was a landmark in Liberal policy, writes Paul Adelman, but it failed to satisfy the Nonconformist conscience of many Liberal supporters.

Emily Eden as a Letter-Writer

Admired by Lord Melbourne; and, later, the author of two popular novels, Emily Eden was one of the liveliest of correspondents. By Prudence Hannay.

How British Steamships Raced to India

By the 1840s, writes Gerald S. Graham, there flourished a fast regular steamship between Britain and India, with fierce competition between Calcutta and Bombay.

Thomas Barnes and The Times 1817-1841

Reginald Watters offers a profile of one of the founding-father of modern journalism; Thomas Barnes brought tremendous dash and energy to the conduct of his long professional career.

The White Mutiny

Following the Indian Mutiny of 1857, it was proposed that British soldiers of the defunct East India Company should become an integral part of the Royal forces. J.M. Brereton describes the troubles that resulted.

The Panjdeh Crisis, 1885

J.M. Brereton describes how Russian advances in Central Asia alarmed the British authorities in London as well as in India.