The Gunpowder Plot
Lord Monteagle received a startling letter on the evening of 26 October 1605. An anonymous correspondent advised the English nobleman...
05/11/2012
MODERN HISTORY
The recruitment in English Civil War
In the middle of the 17th century England experienced a great convulsion of political and military violence, which quickly spread...
13/10/2012
Abraham Lincoln: United States at the crossroads
Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the presidential election in November 1860 set the United States on the path to bloody civil...
07/10/2012
The Lost Prince: The colourful life of Henry Stuart in National Portrait Gallery/London
Today, few people have heard of Henry Stuart (1594-1612) – eldest son of King James VI and I, older brother...
23/09/2012
On this day: London’s Great Fire in 1666
Thomas Farynor, known in London as the King’s Baker, had a bakery in Pudding Lane, near London Bridge. He needed...
02/09/2012
King George III’s illness
Recent research has thrown considerable doubt on the claim that King George III suffered from variegate porphyria, but indicates that...
14/08/2012
Civilising the cannibals
Western visitors to Fiji in 19th century liked to watch what they ate. Traveller John Erskine, for instance, was suspicious...
12/08/2012
William Herschel’s new planet
After a drink-fuelled night discussing Homer, the medical student John Keats wrote his famous lines comparing his own wonderment with...
08/08/2012
How child labour changed the world
Britain’s industrial revolution – the first in the world – would never had happened without child labour. That’s the startling...
08/08/2012
How many prisoners were freed by the storming of the Bastille?
Actually, only seven. In France, 14th July, Bastille Day, is a national holiday and a glorious national symbol, equivalent to...
22/07/2012