Political

After decades of advance, democracy in Europe has begun to look curiously vulnerable.

Frederick the Great, the man who made Prussia a leading European power, was born on January 24th, 1712.

The poets Gerard Manley Hopkins and Coventry Patmore both subscribed to a Tory world view, fiercely opposing the reforms of Prime Minister Gladstone. But their correspondence reveals two very different personalities, says Gerald Roberts.

Paul Lay pays tribute to the playwright, dissident and former Czech president, who has died aged 75.

Traditionally regarded with near contempt, the office of Vice President was created almost by accident. The importance of the ‘Veep’ has grown considerably since. 

Robert Pearce asks why Louis-Philippe's 'July Monarchy' was overthrown.

After he was formally condemned to death in Moscow, the Mexican government offered Trotsky refuge and protection, on December 6th 1936.

Todd Thompson describes how the relationship between a Christian missionary, nicknamed ‘Anderson of Arabia’, and a Muslim religious leader from the Italian-controlled region of Cyrenaica played a major role in the creation of modern Libya after 1945.

The leading Victorian radical and Liberal politician John Bright was born on November 16th 1811.

Clovis I died in Paris on November 27th 511, aged 46.