Victorian

Had Trench’s ambitious projects been carried through, writes John M. Robinson, London might have rivalled St Petersburg in neo-classical magnificence.

Joanna Richardson profiles a figure who carried her Republicanism to the edge, though not across the border, of Socialism.

Prudence Hannay profiles a sporting magnate in the midland shires; Viscont Althorp was also a Radical Whig who piloted through the House of Commons the Reform Bill of 1832.

Len Ortzen describes the Coup d’etat in Paris which prepared the way for the Second Empire.

D.H. Burton describes how, aged twenty-five, Holmes, an influential future US supreme court justice, paid a summer visit during which he made many distinguished friendships.

Arnold spent some thirty-five years as an inspector of schools, in Europe as well as in England. David Hopkinson describes how the Victorian poet hoped education would humanize pupils and weaken the prejudices of nation and class.

David Hopkinson introduces a liberal-minded Victorian poet, seriously concerned with the effects of education.

Though they are often seen as polar opposites,the architect of modern Germany and the great British Liberal statesman shared more in common than one might think. Roland Quinault draws comparisons.

British democracy owes a debt to the country’s first civil rights movement, says Malcolm Chase.

Gerald Morgan introduces Byron’s friend and executor; a radical Whig and head of the East India Company during the Afghan troubles of 1835-43.