Political

The tomb of Mathilda of Flanders, 1839. Catholic University of Leuven. Public Domain.

‘The Queenship of Mathilda of Flanders’ by Laura L. Gathagan review

The Queenship of Mathilda of Flanders, c.1031-1083: Embodying Conquest by Laura L. Gathagan traces the material legacy of the Conqueror’s consort.

Lamartine refusant le drapeau rouge devant l’Hôtel de Ville, by Hénri-Félix Philippoteaux, 1848. Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-arts de la Ville de Paris. Public Domain.

‘The Revolution to Come’ and ‘Revolutions: A New History’ review

Two recent books, The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin by Dan Edelstein and Revolutions: A New History by Donald Sassoon, illustrate the past and future of revolutionary studies.

The Capitulation of Granada, by Francisco Pradilla Ortiz, 1882. Senado de España. Public Domain.

The Last Emirate of Spain

The emirate of Granada – Islam’s last polity in Spain – was surrendered to the Catholic monarchs on 2 January 1492.

The death of Charles II of Navarre, from Froissart’s Chronicles, 1480-83. Heritage Images/TopFoto.

The Death of Charles the Bad

On 1 January 1387 Charles II, the medieval king of Navarre, died as he had lived – with great violence.

The Zenith of French Glory; The Pinnacle of Liberty, James Gillray, 1793. Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris. Public Domain.

‘The French Revolution: A Political History’ by John Hardman review

It may not have been the first, argues John Hardiman in The French Revolution: A Political History, but it was the first of its kind.

Tito: Britain’s Man in Belgrade

During the Cold War successive British governments did all they could to maintain a friendship with Tito’s Yugoslavia. Why was the communist strongman so important to Westminster?

Suffragist Dame Margery Corbett Ashby with Fawcett Society members Virginia Novarra and Pamela Anderson at a meeting to call for anti-discrimination legislation, 18 June 1973. PA Photos/TopFoto.

Joyce Butler and the Sex Discrimination Act

After a long battle, Britain’s Sex Discrimination Act came into force in 1975. What did it do for women?

Habsburg statutes removed from Budapest’s Heroes Square after the Second World War with Franz Joseph in the foreground, 1990. Fortepan / Katalin Erdei.

How did the Habsburg Empire Survive?

Finished by the First World War and buried under the nation states that succeeded it, the Habsburg monarchy had survived for centuries despite its obvious faultlines. What held it together?

Life Guards Horse Regiment during the Uprising of December 14, 1825, Senate Square St Petersburg, by Georg Wilhelm Timm, 19th century. Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.

The Decembrists: Russia’s First Revolution

The Decembrist revolt of 1825 saw Russia’s nobility attempt to depose tsar Nicholas I. Dismissed as romantic idealists, they were driven by a bold vision for the future of the country.