Political

For sixteen years a Congressman and Senator, John Randolph was the most gifted conservative spokesman of the American South. Russell Kirk charts his singular career.

‘If ever a house radiated cheerfulness, that house is Versailles.’ Nancy Mitford on the royal palace in the middle years of Louis XV.

Peter Laslett charts the descent of a near forgotten family of English nobles.

Elizabeth Wiskemann recounts the story of one of Europe’s richest and most hotly-disputed industrial territories

US presidential candidate Mitt Romney is a Mormon, which is a problem for some voters. But, says Andrew Preston, so was the Catholicism of John F. Kennedy and it did not stop him winning the 1960 election.

In our final round up of histories of the nations that make up the British Isles – or, if you prefer, the Atlantic Archipelago – Maria Luddy examines an event which shaped 20th-century Ireland, the 1916 Dublin Easter Rising.

Martin Plaut examines the alliance between the African National Congress (ANC), the Communist Party and the major trade union movement, COSATU.

The chain of events that led to the rule of Saddam Hussein began with the murder of the 23-year-old King Faisal during the 14 July Revolution.

Chris Millington says we shouldn’t be surprised by the Front national’s show of strength in the recent French elections.

Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female Prime Minister on May 4th, 1979. Some other firsts claimed by those occupying the country's highest office.