Political

Jean Alphonse Bernard considers the two key provinces and how they became touchstones and then powderkegs in the nationalist aspirations of both sides.

John Plowright reconsiders a lost leader and the battle he won to maintain public order.  

Stephen Howe samples two titles on British politics, society and royalty

The son of a fisherman's revolt against Spanish taxes on fruit in Naples, on 7 July 1647, was part of a wider challenge to Spanish overlordship throughout the Habsburg domains.

Joad Raymond on a previously unpublished insight into the personality and projection of 'Lord Oliver' during Britain's unique 1650s experience.

With Hong Kong returning to Chinese rule, Roger Thompson looks at when the colony influenced reformers who tried to bring the ballot box to the Middle Kingdom.

Paul Preston amplifies recent claims that Franco offered safe havens to fugitive Nazis

Sarah Foster offers a fascinating account of how Irish identity, with its sectarian implications, asserted itself in the manufacture and purchase of luxury goods.

Richard Cavendish remembers the events of May 15th, 1847.

Richard Cavendish describes the brief rule of Cola di Rienzi following his coup d'etat on May 20th, 1347.