When Britain Saved the West: The Story of Dunkirk
It has now been 75 years since over 330,000 allied soldiers were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk…
British History
Chelsea Flower Show: A Natural History of English Gardening
The Chelsea Flower Show is one of the most famous horticultural events in the world and although no…
The Liberation of the Camps: 8 May 1945, Theresienstadt
By May 1945 all of the concentration and extermination camps across Europe had been liberated. In this final piece…
Guy de la Bedoyere on The Real Lives of Roman Britain
What was it like to live in Roman Britain? Much ink has been spilled on the archaeological remains that still exist…
Jane Dawson on John Knox
John Knox was the leader of the Protestant Revolution in Scotland during the 16th century. He was a…
How the British Army’s First World War Shaped its Second
More than three-and-a-half million men served in the British Army during the Second World War, the vast majority…
Thomas Cromwell and the Treason Act
Thomas Cromwell is a historic figure known to many. Between 1532 and 1540 he was the chief minster…
Durham Cathedral: History, Fabric and Culture
‘Grey towers of Durham, Yet well I loved thy mixed and massive piles’, proclaimed Sir Walter Scott. New…
The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots – Stephen Alford
The award-winning Mary Queen of Scots (2018) proves that the Scottish Queen remains as fascinating a figure as…
Hospitality and Treachery: Something Wicked This Way Comes
As you gather people around your table this festive season, sharing hospitality with friends and neighbours, spare a…
Sculpture Victorious
The exhibition Sculpture Victorious: Art in the Age of Invention, 1837–1901, currently showing at the Yale Center for British…
Dirty Old London: 30 Days of Filth: Day 30
‘The fact that sewers and cesspools brought miasma into the home was an important factor, creating powerful anxieties. Fear of…
Dirty Old London: 30 Days of Filth: Day 28
‘In the previous arrangement, no-one cared how many friends and family shared a room – nor even pigs….
Dirty Old London: 30 Days of Filth: Day 27
‘The capital was increasingly blighted by darker, longer visitations of gloom; and doctors were able to collect more…
Dirty Old London: 30 Days of Filth: Day 26
‘The Lady’s Newspaper, keen to plug a new shopping street, waxed lyrical: ‘the most loathsome of the haunts of vice…