Empire

Edward Acton looks to the Tsarist ancien regime of the 19th century to set the scene for a historical understanding of Russia that does not throw out the baby with its Marxist bathwater.

Peter Marshall considers the past impact and present influence of Marxist models to the history of Europe's encounters with other continents.

John Crowfoot considers the role flags and anthems have played in defining Soviet and Russian identities, past and present.

David Kirby discusses how Sweden's sudden rise to prominence in 17th-century Europe provoked much soul-searching both within and without the country on its nature, its culture and its destiny.

Christopher Bayly, organiser of a major new exhibition on the British and India at the National Portrait Gallery, discusses its making and the complexities of presenting the myths and realities behind the Raj.

'In my Father's house there are many mansions'... but whether or not they could accommodate Gandhi and Hindu nationalist aspirations was a question that exercised British theologians and Christian politicians between the wars. Gerald Studdert-Kennedy charts the relationship between them and the apostle of non-violence against the British Raj.

Was one of France's most formidable opponents to its expansion in North Africa secretly aided and abetted by British guns? John King looks at a tangled tale of nineteenth-century Algeria.

Aram Bakshian Jr. and Geoffrey D. Schad look at the Indian state of Hyderabad from the 18th century to the last days of the British Raj, and at its rulers who echoed the glories of the Mughal court.

'A life of action and constant fidelity to a set of ideas': Max Beloff takes a fresh look at the career of Leo Amery with the publication of the latter's second volume of diaries – a man by no means the stereotype of an inter-war Conservative politician.