Social

Jane Everson highlights the social networks of the Italian academies, the first of their kind in Renaissance Europe.

Robert Colls asks what British identity is - and what it is not.

Jos Damen tells the stories of two unusual men who lived a century apart in the Dutch colony at Elmina in West Africa; a poet who became a tax inspector and a former slave who argued that slavery did not contradict ideas of Christian freedom.

England has been conflated with Britain for so long that unravelling English history from that of its Celtic neighbours is a difficult task. Paul Lay considers recent histories of England and its people.

Patricia Cleveland-Peck tells the story of Fanny Calderón de la Barca and her life as an author, ambassador’s wife and governess to the Spanish royal family.

Richard Cavendish remembers the royal favourite who died on June 19th, 1312.

Binge drinking is seen as a British disease, but its causes are complex and politicians intrude at their peril, says Tim Stanley.

As the debate continues on the causes of last summer’s English Riots, Michael Roberts examines previous attempts by reformers to address moral malaise and social breakdown.

Robin Whitlock asks if studies of the decline of societies such as that of Easter Island can shed light on contemporary concerns.

The year 1812 was a turning point in the career of the industrialist Robert Owen. Ian Donnachie examines his Essays on a New View of Society, in which Owen first aired the ideas about popular education and workers’ welfare that would make him famous as a reformer.