Political

Prudence Hannay profiles a sporting magnate in the midland shires; Viscont Althorp was also a Radical Whig who piloted through the House of Commons the Reform Bill of 1832.

Len Ortzen describes the Coup d’etat in Paris which prepared the way for the Second Empire.

A classic example of the pre-Reform Act ‘pocket borough’, L.W. Cowie describes how the uninhabited Salisbury town of Old Sarum did not lose its Parliamentary privileges until 1832.

Thomas More and his family moved into his ‘Great House’ in Chelsea in 1518. L.W. Cowie describes their life there, until More's arrest in 1534.

M.L. Clarke profiles an enterprising governor in the education of Louis Philippe for eight years, until 1790.

The royal splendour of Versailles, writes Andrew Trout, was matched by the parades and fireworks of the capital.

Stuart Andrews profiles a scientist, controversialist, and pillar of the British enlightenment; Joseph Priestley found his spiritual home in the United States.

Horatio Gates, the victor of Saratoga, had military designs that went unfulfilled, writes Max M. Mintz; both to invade Canada and displace Washington as Continental Commander. 

Louis C. Kleber profiles the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in 1872; a self-made man who combined lofty ideals with many eccentric prejudices.

The author of the History of My Own Time was both a keen churchman and a compulsive writer. Mary Delorme describes how Burnet's style, whether graphic, humorous or pompous, was usually as free and expansive as the historian himself.