Head to Head

‘Mary, Bessie, James you ken, then Charlie, Charlie, James again...’ Does the litany of kings and queens help or hinder an accurate understanding of Britain’s past?

When it comes to the end of the Roman Empire three things are certain: death, taxes, and Goths. Were reports of its demise exaggerated?

Over the 18th and 19th centuries Britain’s economy, technology, and society were transformed by the so-called Industrial Revolution. Why?

King Charles I’s execution in 1649 turned the world upside down – were other outcomes possible?

From a cult’s rogue personalities to its foundational ideologies, how have fringe beliefs guided the direction of the American dream?

Political reputations are forged by actions, but the long view of history can be hard to predict.

Modernity is a ubiquitous phenomenon which defines the age in which we are living, heralding progress and enlightenment – does it even exist?

The spiritual marketplace is crowded – is there something Darwinian about it?

Where fraught national histories are concerned, do policies of remembrance and education work, or is it better to wipe the slate clean?

Surrealism – as formulated in André Breton’s manifesto a century ago in October 1924 – is regarded as one of the First World War’s artistic legacies. What are the others?