Political

David Starkey provides an introduction to the remarkable ruler and places his achievements in a European context.

Stuart Andrews considers the life and radical milieu of the dissenting preacher whose support first for the American and then the French Revolutions brought him public controversy, and in the case of the latter, triggered Edmund Burke's classic denunciation of 1789.

The first modern constitution in Europe? On the occasion of its bicentenary, Robert Frost looks at the background to a landmark in Polish history which, though it triggered the final disaster of partition by the country's greedy neighbours, was a work of enlightened reform, not revolution. 

The links of sentiment and interest between Britain and the United States, though frequently subject to prophesies of continental drift, remain tenacious. Esmond Wright offers a personal perspective on the events and individuals that have forged the alliance over the past century.

Dame Veronica Wedgwood turns to one of the great set pieces of English history – Charles I's January 1642 attempts to settle his differences with Parliament by the attempted arrest of five MPs.

Akbar Ahmed offers the most timely review of how history and stereotype have often combined to make Western Orientalism a hindrance rather than a help in mutual understanding between two cultures.

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

England's answer to Charlemagne, or merely a ruthless king of Mercia? Simon Keynes sifts the evidence for a verdict on the man best known today as the builder of a dyke.

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.

Bernard Crick looks at the cost of historical mediations.