Cultural

Mikhail Safonov argues that the Beatles did more for the break up of totalitarianism in the USSR than Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov.

Simon Sebag Montefiore describes an unlikely project to create an English village in Belorussia involving Catherine the Great’s lover and the philosopher Jeremy Bentham and his brother.

The creation of the town of Saltaire exemplified the works of Victorian industrialists – philanthropy with an eye to profit.

Philip Mansel explores the City of the Sultans from 1453 onwards, and finds it characterised by a vibrant multi-culturalism until the Ottoman demise of 1922.

Jeremy Ashbee, from the Historic Royal Palaces, discusses a new programme at the Tower of London on punishment and imprisonment.

O.H. Creighton examines the many and varied reasons behind the siting of Norman castles, and considers their decisive effect on the cultural landscape of Britain.

Liane Aukin looks at the private life of Florence Nightingale, and at how her strained relationship with her mother shaped her destiny.

Paula Bartley reappraises the role of the leader of the Suffragettes.

Ian Hargreaves traces the origins, and deplores the impact, of the unholy alliance between public relations and politics, business and journalism.

The French tragedy at sea, immortalised in Géricault’s masterpiece The Raft of the Medusa, was put to use in the service of British patriotism.